Note

In the 1960s, several thousand refugees of Chakma origin fled to India from the erstwhile East Pakistan- modern-day Bangladesh. While their counterparts in other Indian states were eventually granted citizenship, the status has eluded the Chakmas in Arunachal Pradesh for over 50 years. The Chakmas have since claimed- or applied for -citizenship, through multiple pathways. After briefly addressing the history of the Chakmas’ relocation in Arunachal Pradesh, the paper assesses the Chakmas’ claim to citizenship through these various pathways: a) naturalization or registration; b) special provisions inserted by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019; and c) by birth. The paper thus has three central aims. First, it argues that the majority of the Chakmas in Arunachal Pradesh are citizens by birth; the remainder have since decades met the eligibility requirements for the acquisition of citizenship through registration or naturalisation. In spite of this, challenges to the Chakmas’ citizenship status have consistently resurfaced in Arunachal Pradesh. The second aim of the paper is to address these challenges. Finally, through its discussion of the provisions that entitle the Chakmas to citizenship, as well as the legal challenges to the same, the paper provides an overview of India’s citizenship acquisition regime and its evolution in the past half-century.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant global ramifications. India’s health infrastructure as well as the economy are facing serious challenges. Since March 2020, corporates and business leaders have attempted to build a COVID-19 response plan in various capacities. In this note, the authors analyse the initiatives undertaken by Indian companies to alleviate the impact of the pandemic on the Indian population as well as the pandemic response of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs through clarifications and amendments to the corporate social responsibility (‘CSR’) framework. The note further deliberates upon the limitations of the CSR regime as revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers recommendations to inspire a more pragmatic, efficient, sustainable, and impactful form of CSR integrated into the organisation and the business of corporates.