New Delhi, May 15: The Union Home Ministry, in a data released recently, revealed that more than 200 Indians surrendered their citizenship in the year 2018. The number of citizens who gave up their citizenship in the year 2018 is higher than the combined previous ten years. Two Pakistani Women Get Indian Citizenship After 24 Years, Thank PM Narendra Modi.

A report in English daily The Hindu mentioned that since 2010, as many as 290 Indians gave up their citizenship. Out of the 290 citizens, 207 gave up their citizenship in the year 2018 itself. Over 40 Pakistani Nationals Granted Indian Citizenship in Pune.

The Hindu accessed the data through the Right to Information Act, which revealed that from the year 2012 to 2015, no Indian gave up their citizenship. In 2010, three Indians had renounced their citizenship, said the report.

The paper quoted a senior government official saying that economic reasons are the main reason why these Indians gave up their citizenship.

“Total 290 are the persons who have renounced Indian citizenship as per Rule 23 of the Citizenship Rules, 2009, under Section 8 of the Citizenship Act, from January 1, 2010, to October 22, 2018,” was the Ministry's reply to the Hindu newspaper's question under the Right to Information Act.

In the year 2016 and 2017, the number of Indian citizens who gave up their citizenship were 19 and 60. However, the MHA said in its response that since 23, 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs stopped preserving the data on this subject as it fell outside it's ambit.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 15, 2019 12:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).