Citizenship Bill endorsed on political consensus: HM

Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has clarified that the government tabled the Citizenship Bill at the parliament by incorporating matters agreed among the political parties on the bill.

Minister Khand further clarified that the government had the citizenship bill endorsed by the parliament after forging consensus among the political parties to address the need of youths who have been relegated to statelessness for long.

"The bill was endorsed to address the feeling of youths who have been denied of state-sponsored facilities and rights in lack of citizenship certificate", he further explained.

Their parents are in Nepal but they have long been deprived of exercising State-endowed rights, Khand said, adding the legislation was introduced to consider this issue.

He said this at a program to declare Rupandehi a fully-vaccinated district against COVID-19 for those aged above 10 years and full immunization assurance for children up to 15 months.

The citizenship bill was endorsed by the House of Representatives and National Assembly and was sent to the President for authentication, Minister Khand said. He added the Nepali people wished to have this bill authenticated at the earliest.

He further noted that the Nepali citizens who work to defend the Nepali language, culture and geography are the true protectors of nationality.

Stating that the COVID-19 pandemic was contained in the country due to collective efforts of all sides, he viewed that the ability of the Nepali people and State to deal with any disasters had increased.

According to him, the tourism sector in the country was hardest hit by COVID-19 and so was the sector in the Lumbini Area. He urged the concerned three-tier authorities to consider determining a fixed remuneration for all the healthy volunteers who, he added, were performing with very negligible remuneration.

At the program organized by the District Health Office in the Rupandehi district, it was shared that there were anti-COVID-19 vaccination facilities for children up to 15 months. It was informed that children below 12 years in the district had fully received the first dose.

He empathized with quality vaccination service against COVID-19 in the remaining 11 districts in the Province.

Also speaking at the event, WHO's representatives Shruti Nepal said that they had achieved success in the vaccination campaign in Rupandehi. Various stakeholders and frontline security personnel and health workers were honored in the program in recognition of their roles and responsibilities to make the vaccination campaign a success in the district