Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday expressed happiness over the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in Rajya Sabha and said that it will be beneficial for the people who had been deprived of their rights for past several decades.
"Today is a historic day. Our Hindu brothers will now be able to exercise their rights. They were not able to get benefits for the past few decades. They will now be the citizens of India. Not only me, but even the people here are also happy," he said while speaking to ANI, during his visit to a refugee camp in New Delhi's Adarsh Nagar.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill sailed smoothly through Parliament after Rajya Sabha passed it on Wednesday. As many as 125 members of the Upper House voted in favour of the Bill while 105 MPs voted against the Bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha earlier this week.
The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.