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Provisions regarding citizenship in the Constitution of India are given in:
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Answer: Option A — Part II (Articles 5 to 11)
Detailed Solution
Part II of the Constitution deals with citizenship. It contains Articles 5 to 11. However, it does not contain a complete or permanent law on citizenship. It only identifies the persons who became citizens of India at the commencement of the Constitution on 26 January 1950, and empowers Parliament to make laws on all other matters of citizenship.
The Articles of Part II:
Article 5: citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution for persons domiciled in India who were born in India, or whose parents were born in India, or who had been ordinarily resident in India for at least five years.
Article 6: citizenship of certain persons who migrated to India from Pakistan.
Article 7: citizenship of certain persons who migrated to Pakistan but later returned to India.
Article 8: citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India.
Article 9: persons who voluntarily acquire the citizenship of a foreign state shall not be citizens of India.
Article 10: continuance of the rights of citizenship.
Article 11: Parliament has the power to regulate the right of citizenship by law.
Using Article 11, Parliament passed the Citizenship Act, 1955, which provides for the acquisition and loss of citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution. It has been amended several times, including in 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2019. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) provides a faster path to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India on or before 31 December 2014; its rules were notified in March 2024.
India provides for single citizenship, borrowed from Britain. Every citizen is a citizen of India only, not of a separate state, unlike the dual citizenship of the USA. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is a form of permanent residency for persons of Indian origin, not dual citizenship.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Part I (Articles 1 to 4) deals with the Union and its territory.
- ✗Part III (Articles 12 to 35) deals with Fundamental Rights.
- ✗Part IV (Articles 36 to 51) deals with the Directive Principles.
Quick tip
Remember: Citizenship = Part II (Articles 5-11); Article 11 empowers Parliament (Citizenship Act, 1955; CAA 2019, rules 2024); single citizenship from the UK; Part I = Union and territory.
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Union, Territory & Citizenship — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Union, Territory & Citizenship, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers Part I and Part II of the Constitution: the Union and its territory (Articles 1-4), the formation and reorganisation of states, and the provisions on citizenship (Articles 5-11), including how citizenship is acquired and lost under the Citizenship Act, 1955. Questions commonly ask which article describes India as a 'Union of States' (Article 1), how Parliament can create new states (Article 3), and the five ways of acquiring citizenship (birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and incorporation of territory). Remember that India provides for single citizenship. Practise the union, territory and citizenship questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.