CAA second panel even as 5.5 lakh Matuas queue up for SIR hearings

Kolkata: The Union home ministry's decision to constitute a second empowered committee for Bengal to fast-track the processing of citizenship requests received under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 comes at a time when nearly 5.5 lakh people from the Matua belts in Bongaon (North 24 Parganas), Nadia and East Burdwan have been summoned for SIR hearings regarding unmapped and logical discrepancies.

Around three lakh among them have already been listed by the Election Commission for re-verification, sources claimed. Reports estimate the number of pending CAA applications in Bengal to be around 50,000.


Trinamool waste little time to question the delayed move. "Whatever the BJP govt may do in the name of empowered committees to fast-track proceedings, unless unconditional citizenship is granted, it will never be possible for Matua community members who have applied under CAA to obtain citizenship," said Sukesh Chowdhury, secretary of the Mamata Bala Thakur-led All India Matua Mahasangha (AIMM).

During Assam NRC, citizenship was granted through a simple process by accepting any valid Indian document, he said.

"The central govt should follow the same procedure if it truly intends to grant Indian citizenship to the Matua community. Regardless of what committee is formed or what process is adopted, it is impossible for those who came from Bangladesh 30–40 years ago with nothing to produce documents demanded by the govt or the Election Commission," Chowdhury said.

However, BJP maintained that Matuas can still vote. "The Narendra Modi-led central govt is the only one that has taken genuine steps to grant citizenship to refugees and members of the Matua community. That is why this new empowered committee to fast-track proceedings have been introduced. All refugees or members of the Matua community who apply under CAA will receive Indian citizenship and their names will also be included on the voters' list," said Ashok Kirtania, BJP's Bongaon North MLA.

"I urge those members of the Matua community who were misled by Trinamool and discouraged from applying under CAA — there is still time. Apply under CAA immediately. You will certainly receive Indian citizenship along with the right to vote," Kirtania said.

The original empowered committee — set up in accordance with a notification issued by the MHA in March 2024 and headed by the Director of Census Operations of West Bengal — will continue to exist.

Central govt sources told TOI that the new empowered committee has been established because the volume of CAA applications in the state has increased. The sharing of the workload is expected to reduce processing times.

(With inputs from

Kaushik Pradhan)