Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed, in a written reply that 1,33,049 people gave up their Indian citizenship in 2017, 1,34,561 in 2018, 1,44,017 in 2019 and 85,248 in 2020.
The Newster
More than 6 lakh Indians have given up their Indian citizenship in last five years, the government apprises parliament on Tuesday. This year till September 30, 1,11,287 citizens have abandoned their citizenship.
On Tuesday, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed, in a written reply that 1,33,049 people gave up their citizenship in 2017, 1,34,561 in 2018, 1,44,017 in 2019 and 85,248 in 2020.
No obvious reason for a large number of Indians giving up their citizenship were mentioned in the reply. Although, in 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs had revised the Citizenship Rules for declaration of renunciation of citizenship by including a column on “circumstances/reasons due to which applicant intends to acquire foreign citizenship and renounce Indian citizenship”, for the first time.
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India is only behind China in terms of high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) abandoning the country’s citizenship, according to a 2019 Global Wealth Migration Review report. More than 7000 HNIs have left the country in 2019 alone.
Amit Mitra, former Finance Minister of West Bengal said, in a tweet, “35,000 Indian Entrepreneurs of High Net Worth LEFT India between 2014-2020, as NRI/Immigrants. India RANKED No 1 IN EXODUS IN THE WORLD” quoting a Morgan Stanley report.
On the other hand, “10,645 foreigners applied for Indian citizenship in the period 2016-20. Among these applicants, 7,782 were from Pakistan, 795 from Afghanistan, 205 from Sri Lanka, 184 from Bangladesh, 167 from Nepal 227 from the US and 453 were stateless”, Mr Rai furthered.
During the same period, 4,177 persons were given Indian citizenship but country-wise breakup date were not provided. 1,33,83,718 Indian citizens were living outside the country according to the minster’s reply to the parliament.
The minister also said that people covered under Citizenship Amendment Act may apply for the Indian citizenship once the rules were notified for the same.
“Till now, the Government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level,” the reply stated.
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