NEW DELHI, Dec 12:
A total of 764 Pakistani nationals have been granted Indian citizenship during the last three years, the Rajya Sabha was told today.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran said 1,290 applications of Pakistani nationals were received from various state government/UTs for grant of Indian citizenship by registration and naturalization during 2009-2011.
The grant of Indian citizenship is a multi-level and multi-agency activity, he said.
Since initial application is submitted to the Collector concerned and a number of agencies are involved in the processing of application for grant of citizenship, no caste or religion based centralised data of such applications is maintained, Ramachandran said.
As per Citizenship Rules of 2009, an application for grant of citizenship is to be submitted by the applicant to the Collector within whose jurisdiction the applicant is ordinarily a resident, he said.
The Collector, after satisfying himself regarding eligibility of the applicant to become a citizen, forwards the application to the state government/UT administration concerned, he said.
The state government/UT administration in turn forwards the application, along with its recommendation, to the Union Home Ministry. Thereafter, the application is processed further as per the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the rules made there under.
The Minister also told the Rajya Sabha that based on reports of persecution of minority groups in Pakistan, India had taken up the matter with Pakistan.
Pakistan government has stated that it was fully cognizant of the situation and looked after the welfare of all its citizens, particularly the minority community, he said. (PTI)
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