Parliament Watch: Surge in number of Indians renouncing citizenship; no plan to rework existing pronouns in Constitution

Parliament on Thursday saw replies to questions on topics ranging from Indians who have renounced their citizenship to reworking the existing pronouns in the Constitution of India..Surge in number of Indians renouncing citizenship.Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh sought to know the number of Indian citizens who adopted the citizenship of other countries by giving up their Indian citizenship..According to information provided by the Ministry of External Affairs, in 2015, 1,31,489 individuals renounced their citizenship, while in 2016, the number rose to 1,41,603. The following year, 1,33,049 individuals renounced their citizenship, and in 2018, the number increased to 1,34,561. In 2019, 1,44,017 people renounced their citizenship, followed by a significant decrease in 2020, presumably owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, when only 85,256 individuals gave up their citizenship. However, in 2021, the number increased once again to 1,63,370, and in 2022, it surged to 2,25,620. State-wise data was not available with the Ministry..The following is a list of countries whose citizenship Indians have acquired since 2015: .Implementation of RERA Act across states.Telangana Lok Sabha MP Nama Nageswara Rao sought to know from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs the status of implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) (RERA) Act across all states and union territories..The Ministry revealed that all states and union territories in India have notified rules under the Act except Nagaland. Out of the 32 states and union territories, 26 have set up regular Real Estate Regulatory Authorities, while the remaining 6 have interim authorities. While Ladakh, Meghalaya, and Sikkim have notified their respective rules, they are yet to establish the authority.Additionally, out of the 28 states and union territories that have set up Real Estate Appellate Tribunals, 24 have regular tribunals, while the remaining 4 have interim ones. However, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, and West Bengal are still in the process of establishing their appellate tribunals.The response also revealed that across the country, a total of 1,01,304 real estate projects and 72,012 real estate agents have registered under RERA. Furthermore, the Real Estate Regulatory Authorities have disposed of 1,06,657 complaints as on March 13, 2023..The following table contains details about the implementation of the Act:.Digitisation of High Court records.In response to a question by Odisha Rajya Sabha MP Sulata Deo, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju revealed that a total of 73,44,57,063 pages have been digitized across High Courts in the country.However, no digitization of records has taken place at the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court, the Meghalaya High Court and the Bombay High Court.Information regarding the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is not available with the Ministry.The following table shows the High Court wise status of current digitization:.No proposal to rework existing pronouns in Constitution.Sulata Deo also asked, based on the recent introduction of the “she/her” pronouns while referring to all genders in the Digital Data Protection Bill, 2022, whether the government plans to rework the existing pronouns in the Constitution of India..Rijiju replied stating that drafting of legislations in line with the government’s philosophy of empowering of women is an evolving and innovative practice and that no proposal to rework the Constitution is under consideration at present.