Implementation of CAA lies with Centre: Ministry of Home Affairs

New Delhi: The decision whether to grant or not grant citizenship under the newly-enacted Citizenship Amendment Act lies with the Centre and the role of state officials will be minimal, top Home Ministry sources said on Friday.

The applications will be online so the role of the District Collector will be minimised, the Ministry of Home Affairs sources said.

According to the sources, the Foreigner Regional Registration Offices (FRROs), in some cases are under centrals jurisdiction, but state resources will be utilised if the need arose.

On West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to suspend work on the National Population Register (NPR) in the state, the source said: "West Bengal cannot unilaterally put on hold NPR, it is as per law. No state can stop it.

Can a state tomorrow say we can't do census? This too is as per an act of parliament."

The sources also said that the law provides for a national identity card under section 14A of the Citizenship Act and such a card could be issued to all those figuring in the NRC. The NPR can be the basis of NRC, they said.