West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said his government would speed up hearings and grant citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to 2.5 lakh applicants in the state by December 31, addressing the International Matua Gosai Convention 2026 at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district.

Source: PTI via India Today (News89)

"Only 25,000 people have received citizenship under CAA in West Bengal so far. We will expedite the hearing and provide citizenship to 2.5 lakh petitioners by December 31," Adhikari said, according to PTI. Deccan Herald carried the same announcement on Sunday.

Source: Deccan Herald (PTI)

Adhikari also announced a grant of Rs 50 crore for the development of the Matua community and said eligible Scheduled Caste applicants who receive citizenship under the law would be given SC certificates.

Crediting the community's support for the formation of the BJP government in West Bengal, he said: "This government in West Bengal could be formed because of support from the Matua community." Earlier in the day, he told reporters in Thakurnagar that his predecessor Mamata Banerjee had done nothing for the Matua community and had instead divided it, and that she had directly opposed the CAA.

"The CMs of all other states have implemented CAA, and those eligible got their citizenship. Only Mamata Banerjee opposed it," he said. "I am happy to be here. If I can do anything for Thakurnagar, that would be my biggest achievement. In the coming days, I will work for them."

The Matuas are a Scheduled Caste community whose origins trace to present-day Bangladesh. They are part of a social reform movement that emerged in the late 19th century under the leadership of Harichand Thakur, which primarily mobilised members of the Namasudra community in undivided eastern Bengal. The CAA provides citizenship to persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.