CAA rules will be framed after vaccination begins: Indian Home Minister Amit Shah

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has said the rules for implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act have not yet been framed and the matter will be considered once Covid-19 vaccination starts in the country and the virus transmission chain breaks, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"The rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act are yet to be framed because of the pandemic situation and the matter will be considered once Covid-19 vaccination begins and the corona chain breaks," Shah told the media at Shantiniketan in West Bengal yesterday.

India is likely to begin vaccination drive in January 2021 involving an estimated 30 crore people, including health and other frontline workers and people above the age of 60.

The CAA seeks to give Indian citizenship to "persecuted" religious minorities of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan who have migrated to India till 2014.

To a question why the issues of CAA and NRC were missing from his speeches in recent times, Shah said "this is not my last visit (to West Bengal). We will speak on this at the right time and when we talk about it we will speak aloud."

Shah's remarks yesterday came after BJP's national vice-president Mukul Roy and national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya had some time back said the rules for the implementation of CAA may be framed by January.

The CAA was passed by Indian Parliament in December last year, sparking countrywide violent street protests, and the government was expected to frame the rules for its implementation.