158 refugees get citizenship in Ahmedabad, 126 under the CAA
At an Ahmedabad district administration ceremony on 13 October 2026, 158 migrants received Indian citizenship certificates: 126 under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) and 32 through the Collector. Its route, Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, covers Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India by 31 December 2014.
Syllabus: GS2 · Constitution; Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · India & its Neighbourhood
Why this matters for UPSC
GS2 Polity, citizenship under Articles 5 to 11 and the Citizenship Act, 1955: Prelims can ask whom Section 6B covers, where it does not apply and the five-year naturalisation rule; Mains, whether its classification meets Article 14.
Why it matters
Take a Hindu family that crossed from Pakistan before 2015 and has lived in India since. Before the CAA, members who entered without valid papers counted as illegal migrants and could not apply under sections 5 or 6 at all. Now they can apply under Section 6B, qualify for naturalisation with five years' aggregate residence instead of eleven, and be counted as citizens from the day they entered India; an illegal-migration case against them ends once citizenship is granted. With Collectors deciding the cases in Gujarat, the file stays in the district. The larger issue is the basis of eligibility: the route names six religious communities and three countries, so it is tested against Article 14's promise of equality before the law.
Prelims pointers
- Articles 5 to 11 of the Constitution deal with citizenship; Article 11 leaves acquisition and termination of citizenship to Parliament's law.
- Citizenship falls under Entry 17 of the Union List in the Seventh Schedule, so Parliament legislates on it.
- Citizenship Act, 1955 routes: birth (section 3), descent (section 4), registration (section 5), naturalisation (section 6), incorporation of territory (section 7).
- Section 6A (inserted in 1985) covers persons under the Assam Accord; Section 6B (inserted in 2019) covers the CAA's migrants.
- Third Schedule: naturalisation needs 12 months' residence before applying and 11 years in the 14 before that; the CAA made it five for the covered communities.
- Empowered Committee: headed by the State's Director (Census Operations); District Level Committee: headed by the Senior Superintendent or Superintendent of Post.
- Section 6B does not apply to Sixth Schedule tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, or to Inner Line areas under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.
- Section 16 lets the Centre delegate its powers under the Act to an officer or authority, except those under section 10 (deprivation) and section 18 (rules).
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, consider the following statements:
1. A person granted citizenship under it is deemed a citizen of India from the date of entry into India.
2. An applicant facing a pending illegal-migration proceeding is disqualified from applying until the proceeding ends.
3. It does not apply to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura included in the Sixth Schedule.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only
1 is correct: section 6B(2) deems the person a citizen from the date of entry into India, whereas ordinary registration or naturalisation counts from the date of registration or the certificate. 2 is incorrect: under section 6B(3) a pending proceeding is no ground to disqualify or reject the applicant, and it abates once citizenship is conferred. 3 is correct: section 6B(4) excludes those Sixth Schedule tribal areas, as well as areas under the Inner Line.
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