Citizenship bill to be passed with political consensus: Minister Khand

Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has said the government has been taking initiative to forward the citizenship bill with consensus among the political parties. The bill is currently under consideration in the parliament.

Responding to queries raised over the Appropriation Bill in today's meeting of the National Assembly, Home Minister Khand said, "The government has been taking initiative to pass the citizenship bill soon in order to address the citizenship-related problems."

He shared that an arrangement of fundamental rights for those youths, who have not been able to get citizenship certificate, is going to be made by preparing some letter of recommendation.

Sharing the information that the Home Ministry has presented a draft related to necessary facilities at the Home Ministry at a time when people are deprived of citizenship certificate due to lack of passage of the bill, the Home Minister said he was confident that the draft would get shape soon.

He further said that the ministry has started necessary preparation for the disaster management as well as necessary activities for preparedness, rescue, relief and rehabilitation.

Though number of people losing their lives from flood has decreased for the past few years, human casualties from landslides have not decreased, he mentioned. The Armed Police Force has established Disaster Management Centre at Kurintar of Chitwan, said Home Minister Khand.

Minister Khand shared the government has been paying attention how to reduce drug abuse as eight percent of prisoners in the jails across the country are drug abusers.

On the occasion, Home Minister Khand also informed the House that the investigation into the death of Asmita Dhami was underway. Working at the Jamaraniya Basic Health Center in Dadeldhura, Dhami was found dead at a stream near a Community Forest on June 19.

Similarly, the search for the culprit behind the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant is going on for a long time and the police are now conducting a multi-pronged investigation, he said. The investigation is continuing after a DNA test.

 In today's meeting, MPs Khim Lal Devkota, Jitendra Narayan Dev, Suresh Ale Magar, Devendra Dahal and Sonam Geljen Sherpa had asked follow-up questions to the Home Minister. In response to their question, Home Minister Khand said that the government was serious in protecting the human rights and the living conditions of the refugees in Nepal.

On the issue of federal and provincial security, Khand said that the Nepal Army, the Armed Police Force and the Nepal Police have been divided into federal and provincial categories. He however said that the federal police will take charge of the security of the federal capital Kathmandu as widely practiced in other countries around the world. The federal government has to provide security so that there is no hassles as there are sensitive bodies including parliament, diplomatic missions, prime minister and president's office in the capital.