CAA: Bengal deploys 12 IAS officers to grant citizenship to 2.5 lakh Matua refugees by Dec 31
Synopsis
West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari has pledged citizenship to 2.5 lakh Matua refugees under the CAA by 31 December — and within 24 hours, his government deployed 12 IAS officers to two key districts to make it happen. The move is both an administrative milestone and a politically charged signal in a community that has been courted for decades without resolution.
Key Takeaways
The West Bengal government deployed 12 IAS officers on 2 November 2026 to fast-track CAA citizenship for Matua refugees.
Officers are posted for two months in North 24 Parganas and Nadia — districts with the highest Matua refugee concentration.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari set a deadline of 31 December 2026 to complete citizenship for 2.5 lakh Matua refugees.
Adhikari also promised release of Matua refugees jailed under the previous TMC government and provision of land and accommodation.
Post-citizenship, beneficiaries' names are to be enrolled in voter lists , carrying significant electoral implications.
The West Bengal government on Monday, 2 November 2026, deployed 12 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to fast-track the granting of Indian citizenship to Matua refugees settled in the state under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The move came within 24 hours of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari pledging to complete the citizenship process for 2.5 lakh Matua refugees by 31 December 2026.
The Government Notification
A formal notification issued late Monday night by the State Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department formalised the deployment. The 12 IAS officers have been appointed for a period of two months, specifically in North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts — the two districts with the highest concentration of Matua refugees in the state.
Officers Romil Dwivedi, Mudita Bansal, Ravul Jaisingh Reddy, Tejaswa, Swami Sunil Ramling, and Rajat Yadav have been assigned to North 24 Parganas. Ritika Rath, Chogle Aditi Sanjay, Abhishek Chowdhury, Meghna Chakraborty, Saksham Bhatia, and Himanshu Bhaskar will handle Nadia district.
Over the next two months, these officers will coordinate with respective district administrations to process CAA-related applications, covering document verification, hearings, and legal reviews.
What CM Adhikari Announced
Chief Minister Adhikari made the citizenship pledge on Sunday, 1 November, while addressing the Second International Matua Gosai Conference at Thakurbari, the ancestral seat of Matua leadership in Thakurnagar, North 24 Parganas. His announcement set a firm deadline of 31 December 2026 for completing the process for all 2.5 lakh eligible Matua refugees in West Bengal.
Adhikari further assured that Matua refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh who were reportedly jailed under the previous Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration would be released in the coming days and provided with land and accommodation in the state. He also promised that once citizenship is granted under the CAA, the names of such beneficiaries will be enrolled in voter lists.
Who Are the Matuas
The Matuas are a Backward Class Hindu community originally from erstwhile East Pakistan — present-day Bangladesh — who have settled across various parts of West Bengal since Independence. They constitute a politically significant demographic in the districts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia, and have historically been courted by multiple political parties ahead of state and national elections.
Notably, the Matua community's citizenship status has been a recurring political flashpoint in Bengal, with both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the TMC making competing promises on the issue over successive election cycles.
What Happens Next
The deployment of IAS officers signals an administrative push to meet the self-imposed 31 December 2026 deadline — a timeline that critics may scrutinise given the scale of documentation and verification involved for 2.5 lakh applicants within roughly two months. The state government has indicated that additional administrative oversight has been built into the process to manage the workload across both districts.
Point of View
And a December 31 deadline — set just months ahead of the state's political calendar — ensures the issue stays live. The real test is whether document verification for 2.5 lakh applicants, a process that has stalled for years, can genuinely be compressed into two months without corner-cutting on due process. Enrolling newly-minted citizens onto voter lists, as Adhikari has explicitly promised, will draw sharp scrutiny from the opposition and the Election Commission alike.
NationPress
3 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why has the West Bengal government deployed IAS officers for CAA citizenship in November 2026?
The West Bengal government deployed 12 IAS officers to expedite granting Indian citizenship to 2.5 lakh Matua refugees under the CAA by 31 December 2026. The deployment, covering North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, followed Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's public pledge made on 1 November 2026.
Who are the Matua refugees and why are they seeking citizenship?
The Matuas are a Backward Class Hindu community originally from erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) who migrated to West Bengal at various points since Independence. Many have remained stateless or without formalised citizenship, and the CAA provides a legal pathway for such non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before 31 December 2014.
What is the December 31 deadline and can it realistically be met?
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari pledged on 1 November 2026 to complete the CAA citizenship process for 2.5 lakh Matua refugees by 31 December 2026. The two-month window for document verification, hearings, and legal reviews for such a large number of applicants is considered ambitious, and its feasibility will depend on the pace of the newly deployed IAS officers and district administrations.
What other promises did CM Adhikari make to the Matua community?
Beyond the citizenship deadline, Adhikari promised the release of Matua refugees from Bangladesh who were allegedly jailed under the previous TMC administration, along with provision of land and accommodation. He also stated that after citizenship, their names would be added to voter lists.
Which districts are the IAS officers deployed to, and why?
The 12 IAS officers have been deployed to North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, which have the highest concentration of Matua refugees in West Bengal. Six officers have been assigned to each district for a two-month period to coordinate document verification and application processing under the CAA.
