Kolkata, Nov 2 (IANS) The West Bengal government on Monday assigned 12 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to expedite the process of granting Indian citizenship to Matua refugees settled in the state under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
A notification to this effect was issued by the State Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department late Monday night. The state government’s move came within 24 hours of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari promising on Sunday to grant Indian citizenship to 2.5 lakh Matua refugees by December 31 this year.
CM Adhikari announced on Sunday while addressing the Second International Matua Gosai Conference at Thakurbari, the ancestral home of the Matua leadership in Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal.
The Matuas are a Backwards Class Hindu community originally from erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) who have settled in various parts of West Bengal over time since Independence.
According to the notification issued by the State Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department, the 12 IAS officers have been appointed for two months in North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts to accelerate CAA-related procedures, given that the highest concentration of Matua refugees resides in these two districts.
Among the officers assigned to this administrative task, Romil Dwivedi, Mudita Bansal, Ravul Jaisingh Reddy, Tejaswa, Swami Sunil Ramling, and Rajat Yadav have been deployed to North 24 Parganas.
Meanwhile, Ritika Rath, Chogle Aditi Sanjay, Abhishek Chowdhury, Meghna Chakraborty, Saksham Bhatia, and Himanshu Bhaskar have been assigned to Nadia district.
Over the next two months, these officers will coordinate with the respective district administrations to process CAA-related applications, as additional administrative oversight is required for document verification, hearings, and legal reviews.
In addition to promising the completion of citizenship grants for 2.5 lakh Matua refugees settled in West Bengal by December 31, CM Adhikari assured that Matua refugees entering West Bengal from neighbouring Bangladesh who had been jailed under the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress administration will be released in the coming days and provided with land and accommodation in the state.
He further promised that such Matua refugees will first be granted citizenship under the CAA, after which their names will be enrolled in the voter lists.
–IANS
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