New Delhi: More than 8 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in the last seven years as on September 30, the central government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Replying to questions raised by Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that out of the 8,81,254 Indians who renounced their citizenship in the related period, 1,11,287 did so till September 30 this year.
Rai in a written reply further stated that in 2020, 85,248 Indians renounced their citizenship. As for 2019 and 2018, 1,44,017 and 1,34,561 Indians respectively renounced their citizenship.
As for 2017, 1,33,049 Indians renounced their Indian citizenship while the figure stood at 1,41,603 in 2016. According to the statistics provided by the Rai in the Upper House, 1,31,489 Indians renounced their citizenship in 2015.
Asked whether the central government has simplified the process for Indians who want to renounce their citizenship, Rai said, "Citizenship of India may be renounced under provisions of Section 8 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 read with rule 23 of the Citizenship Rules, 2009."
"The online portal for renunciation of Indian citizenship has been activated in August 2021. End to end processing of renunciation applications is carried out in the online Citizenship Module," he added.
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