The Union ministry of communication has set up two additional district-level committees (DLCs) or hearing centres — one each in Nadia and North 24-Parganas — to expedite the processing of thousands of citizenship applications under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Earlier, there was only one DLC in each of the two districts to verify documents of CAA applicants. The increase in the number of DLCs effectively means more hearing centres for citizenship applications.

Nadia and North 24-Parganas are two crucial districts that together house nearly one-fourth of the total estimated two crore persecuted Hindu refugees, particularly from the Matua community.

The move to increase the number of hearing centres for citizenship applications is considered politically significant ahead of next year’s Assembly polls, as the BJP aims to help as many Matuas as possible obtain citizenship status.

“Earlier, there was only one hearing centre with one district-level committee in Nadia and North 24-Parganas. Now, the ministry has added one more committee in each of these two districts, where a large number of people from the Matua community live,” said Gopal Gayali, a BJP leader from Bongaon in North 24-Parganas.

Gayali had written to the Union government on behalf of Aikyatan, an NGO that has been closely working on the citizenship drive for the Matua community.

“Though we welcome the move, we demand at least one hearing centre in each subdivision of the two districts to expedite the verification and hearing process, as applicants are getting hearing calls three to four months after applying,” added Gayali.

Since the CAA-2019 was enacted, the BJP has activated its leaders, especially in Nadia and North 24-Parganas, to encourage members of the Matua community to apply for citizenship certificates. As the Election Commission is likely to announce the special intensive revision, a section of BJP leaders believes obtaining citizenship certificates is crucial for those who came to India after 2002.

“There are thousands of Matuas whose names did not appear in the 2002 electoral rolls, as they came to India after that period. If they don’t get citizenship status before the revision, they may face hurdles in retaining their names in the electoral rolls,” said a senior BJP leader.

Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty said: “The efforts of the BJP and the central government to expedite citizenship hearings prove that SIR would create trouble mainly for Hindu Bengalis, as those who escaped from Bangladesh are Hindus. Now, the BJP’s ploy of SIR would affect the Matuas, who are also Hindus.”