Post-SIR, Centre forms two more panels to fast-track CAA applications in West Bengal

Centre establishes two empowered committees to expedite CAA citizenship applications for the Matua community in West Bengal.

Two days after the final electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was published in West Bengal, the Union Home Ministry on Monday (March 2, 2026) notified two more empowered committees to fast-track citizenship applications under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

In all, four such committees headed by Central government officials have been formed to clear applications, three of them in the past 10 days. West Bengal goes to polls in the next two months.

Thousands of people belonging to the Matua community, comprising Hindu Namasudras with roots in Bangladesh, have applied or are being encouraged by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to apply for citizenship under CAA. Their names were not in the 2002 electoral rolls, and subsequently, did not appear in the final SIR list published on February 28.

Ever since the CAA was implemented in 2024, the Ministry has not provided any data on the number of applications received or citizenship certificates granted under the Act, particularly in West Bengal.

Jagannath Sarkar, BJP Member of Parliament from Ranaghat, a reserved constituency in West Bengal which has a sizeable Matua population, told The Hindu that the empowered committee formed earlier has not been able to clear the pending CAA applications.

“Only 20% people in my constituency who are eligible have applied for citizenship under CAA. Either their applications are pending or they are never called for hearing. The postal department officials who are involved in the job have a Communist bent of mind and they are stalling the processing of applications,” Mr. Sarkar said.