Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 comes into force as Home Ministry notifies gazette

The Ministry of Home Affairs on January 10 notified through the Gazette of India that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 will come into force from January 10 onward.

The Gazette, available on the website, reads: "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (47 of 2019), the Central Government hereby appoints the 10th day of January 2020, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force."

The Act allows Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who faced religious persecution, and came to India before December 31, 2014, to get citizenship in India

The notification comes amid nationwide protests against the Act as well as worries over the implementation of a pan-India NRC (National Register of Citizens).