New Delhi: The number of people renouncing Indian citizenship is constantly increasing. The Ministry of External Affairs informed Parliament that about 900,000 Indians have renounced their citizenship in the last five years.
Replying in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said, "Between 2011 and 2024, about 2.1 million Indians adopted foreign citizenship. After 2021, there was a significant increase in the number of people renouncing citizenship. While the figure had come down to about 85,000 in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has since reached about 200,000.
The government said that in the last three years, 5,945 Indian citizens were expelled from Middle Eastern countries due to security reasons."
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the Lok Sabha that these include "Operation Ajay" from Israel and "Operation Sindhu" from Iran-Israel. Besides, the bodies of 45 Indians killed in the Kuwait fire were also brought to India.
Nominated Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murthy moved a proposal to guarantee free, compulsory education and care for children between the ages of 3 and 6. She demanded the addition of a new Article 21B in the Constitution. She also stressed on the need to strengthen the Anganwadi system.