SSC
Under the Citizenship Act, 1955, Indian citizenship can be acquired in how many ways?
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Answer: Option B — Five
Detailed Solution
The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides five ways of acquiring Indian citizenship: by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalisation and by incorporation of territory.
Constitutional background:
- Articles 5 to 11 in Part II of the Constitution deal with citizenship.
- Articles 5 to 8 identified who became citizens at the commencement of the Constitution.
- Article 11 empowered Parliament to regulate citizenship by law, leading to the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The five ways of acquiring citizenship:
By birth: A person born in India may become a citizen, subject to conditions that have become stricter over time. For those born after 3 December 2004, one parent must be an Indian citizen and the other must not be an illegal migrant.
By descent: A person born outside India may become a citizen if a parent is an Indian citizen at the time of birth, and the birth is registered at an Indian consulate.
By registration: Certain categories, such as persons of Indian origin and persons married to Indian citizens, may be registered as citizens after meeting residence requirements.
By naturalisation: A foreigner who has lived in India for the required period and meets other conditions, such as good character and knowledge of a language in the Eighth Schedule, may get a certificate of naturalisation.
By incorporation of territory: If a foreign territory becomes part of India, the government may specify the people of that territory who will become citizens. For example, residents of Pondicherry and Goa became citizens in this way.
Ways of losing citizenship:
- The Act also provides three ways of losing citizenship: renunciation, termination and deprivation.
- Termination happens automatically when a citizen voluntarily acquires another country's citizenship; deprivation is ordered by the Central Government, for example for fraud.
Amendments:
- The Act has been amended several times, including major amendments in 2003 and 2019.
- The 2019 amendment provided a faster path for certain persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Three is the number of ways of losing citizenship; four and six are incorrect.
Quick tip
Remember: Acquiring citizenship = 5 ways (birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, territory); losing = 3 ways.
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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.