Single citizenship

Topic: Citizenship: Idea and Indian Law · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Federalism"

Meaning

Single citizenship means every Indian is a citizen of India only; there is no separate citizenship of a state. India took this idea from Britain. It means the Constitution gives a citizen the same rights in every part of the country, whichever state they were born in or live in. This helps hold a very diverse federation together.

Explanation

How it works

• Citizenship means full membership of a political community. A citizen gets rights from the state and owes duties to it.
• India is a federation (power is shared between the Union and the states), but it has only one citizenship.

• Example: a person born in Kerala and living in Punjab is simply a citizen of India. They are not a "citizen of Kerala" or a "citizen of Punjab".

• Only Parliament decides who is a citizen.

• Citizenship is a Union subject. It is listed in the Seventh Schedule, List I (Union List), entry 17 as "citizenship, naturalisation and aliens".
• Naturalisation means a foreigner becoming a citizen after living in the country for a set time. Aliens are people who are not citizens.
• A state legislature cannot make any law on citizenship. So there is one set of rules for the whole country.

What single citizenship gives a citizen

• Same rights everywhere. These Fundamental Rights belong only to citizens, and they apply equally in every state:
• Art. 15: no discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
• Art. 16: equal chance in public employment (government jobs).

• Art. 19: six freedoms, including the freedom to move freely and to reside and settle anywhere in India, and to practise any profession.

• The same political rights everywhere: voting through adult suffrage (every adult citizen can vote) in Lok Sabha and state assembly elections (Art. 326).

• Freedom to move: a citizen can move, work and settle in any state without becoming an outsider in law.

Contrast with the US model

• The USA has dual citizenship. A person is a citizen of the USA and also of the state they live in.
• India chose the British model of one citizenship. Its aim is to bind a diverse country together.

Limits: where residence can still matter

Single citizenship is the rule. But the Constitution allows a few exceptions:

Provision	What it allows
Art. 16(3)	Only Parliament (not a state legislature) may make residence in a state or UT a condition for some public jobs there
Art. 371D	Special provisions for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: local cadres (posts kept for local people) and fair chances in public jobs and education
Former Art. 35A	Let Jammu and Kashmir define its "permanent residents" and give them special rights in jobs, land and scholarships. Ended in 2019

• These exceptions do not create a state citizenship. They only give some local benefits based on residence.

In the Constitution and practice

• Part II of the Constitution (Arts. 5-11) sets out who was a citizen of India on 26 January 1950. It talks only about Indian citizenship and never about state citizenship. This is the basis of single citizenship.
• Arts. 5-9 came into force early, on 26 November 1949 (Art. 394), to settle the status of people moving across the border after Partition.
• Art. 9: voluntarily taking the citizenship of a foreign state ends Indian citizenship.

• Art. 11: nothing in Part II limits Parliament's power to make laws on acquiring and ending citizenship and all other matters about citizenship [2].

• Citizenship Act, 1955 (Act No. 57 of 1955): Parliament used its plenary power (full and complete power to make laws on a subject) under Art. 11 to pass this Act. It sets out how citizenship is gained (birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, inclusion of territory) and lost (renunciation, termination, deprivation) [3].

• One central law covers the whole country. This is single citizenship at work.

• Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act No. 47 of 2019) [6] and the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, notified on 11 March 2024 [5]:

• Under the 2024 Rules, an Empowered Committee headed by the Director of Census Operations of the state or UT grants citizenship [5].

• Even when the work is done inside a state, the citizenship granted is Indian citizenship under a central law.

• Article 35A, 2019: Jammu and Kashmir's special "permanent resident" rights ended in 2019. This moved the region towards the uniform rights that single citizenship stands for.

• NCERT view: the Indian idea of citizenship is "essentially democratic and inclusive". Single citizenship supports this by giving every citizen equal rights everywhere.

Don't confuse with

• Dual citizenship (US model): a person is a citizen of both the federation and their state. India has only one citizenship, even though it is a federation.
• Holding the citizenship of two countries: single citizenship is about no state-level citizenship inside India. It is a different question from holding the citizenship of another country. Under Art. 9, voluntarily taking a foreign citizenship ends Indian citizenship.
• Overseas Citizen of India (OCI): this is a registration, not a second citizenship. The government can cancel it if the cardholder breaks any law notified by the central government, after giving them a chance to be heard [4].
• Residence-based job rules (Art. 16(3), Art. 371D): these give local benefits based on where a person lives. They do not create a state citizenship, and under Art. 16(3) only Parliament can make such rules.

Prelims Hooks

• Single citizenship came from Britain. Dual (federal plus state) citizenship is the US model.
• Citizenship is in List I (Union List), entry 17: "citizenship, naturalisation and aliens". A state legislature cannot make laws on it.
• Art. 11 gives Parliament full power over citizenship. Parliament used it to pass the Citizenship Act, 1955 [3].
• Trap: Art. 16(3) lets only Parliament, not a state, make residence in a state or UT a condition for some public jobs.
• Art. 371D: local cadres and fair chances in jobs and education for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• Former Art. 35A (J&K "permanent residents") ended in 2019.

Mains Points

• Unity in a diverse federation:
• Single citizenship and the Art. 19 freedoms to move and settle anywhere tie a diverse country together. People can live and work in any state as equals.

• Unlike the US, Indian states do not control who belongs. This supports a strong Union.

• Uniformity vs regional needs:

• Art. 16(3), Art. 371D and the former Art. 35A show that the Constitution also bends for local needs, such as jobs for local people.

• The removal of Art. 35A in 2019 favoured uniform rights. The ongoing question is how far residence-based benefits can go before they weaken single citizenship.

• Central control and its downside:

• Leaving citizenship to Parliament (Art. 11) gives one national law and keeps the system flexible.
• But the core of citizenship can then change by ordinary law, without a constitutional amendment. The CAA 2019 debate shows this. It is defended as help for persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries, and criticised for making religion a basis for classification, which raises questions under Art. 14 [4].

Related concepts

• Part II of the Constitution
• Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution
• Rights reserved for citizens
• Enemy alien

Read more

• Citizenship in the Constitution: Part II, single citizenship and citizens' rights