Consider the following statements regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019:
1. The Act allows the specified class of illegal migrants to apply for citizenship by naturalization after the five years of residency in India.
2. The provisions of the Bill are applicable across the country.
3. The cutoff date for the immigration is on or before December 31, 2014.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?

Correct option is A

The correct answer is (a) 1 and 3 only

Explanation:
• Statement 1 is correct: It reduces the period of naturalization from 11 years to 5 years for specified minorities.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: The Act does not apply to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura (6th Schedule) or areas under Inner Line Permit (ILP).
• Statement 3 is correct: The cutoff date for entry into India is December 31, 2014.

Information Booster:
• The Act applies to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
• Naturalization is a process under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Additional Knowledge:
2 only (Option b)
• Incorrect because the Act has specific geographic exemptions.
2 and 3 only (Option c)
• Incorrect due to Statement 2.
1 only (Option d)
• Incomplete as Statement 3 is also correct.

So the correct answer is (a)