The Ministry of Home affairs announced that the registration fee for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians will be Rs. 100. The fee has been reduced from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 100. It is applicable for the people living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
“We had been demanding for delegating the citizenship powers of the District Collectors and reduction in the application fee to just Rs 100 per application for these poor people since long,” said Hindu Singh Sodha, Chairman of the Seemant Lok Sangthan, a voluntary organisation fighting for the rights of the refugees.
The fee for minority community people living in countries other than the above mentioned countries, will be Rs 10,000 for registration in India and Rs 15,000 if registered elsewhere.
During the Lok Sabha elections, BJP had promised that Hindu refugees living in Pakistan and Bangladesh will be granted Indian Citizenship. To fulfill the promise, Indian Government has taken many steps to provide long-term visas to Hindu refugees until they get citizenship.
Around 2000 to 5000 refugees from Pakistan migrate to India. Some of them seek refuge to escape religious and political persecution while some migrate because of economic reasons. However, the latest amendments in Citizenship Rules does not apply to those migrants who are migrating for economic reasons.
The new rules were announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs after making some changes in various sections of Citizenship Rules. The new amendments, as stated above, are applicable to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians living in counties like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The move has been welcomed by various minority communities in the above mentioned country.