NRNA urges govt to pass Citizenship Bill soon

 Kathmandu, Aug. 21

The Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has drawn the attention of Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Gyanendra Bahadur Karki regarding the citizenship bill which is pending at the Federal Parliament for the last two years.

A delegation of the NRNA led by its President Kumar Pant met the Minister in the presence of the members of National Assembly and House of Representatives to urge him to facilitate in getting the bill passed from the house at the earliest.

Drawing the attention of the government behind the delay in passing the instrumental law, Pant said that the ending of the session of the parliament without passing the citizenship bill has affected the amendment of NRNA Act as well.

Resource person of the NRNA on the continuation of citizenship, Saroj Dahal, had updated the meeting about the progress made in terms of providing citizenship to the non-resident Nepalis.

Chief Executive Officer of the NRNA Development Fund, Anal Raj Bhattarai, said that if the government addressed the issues and promoted investment from NRNs in Nepal, the fund could increase to Rs. 50 billion.

Currently, the size of the fund is Rs. 10 billion. The fund is formally registered at the Company Registrar’s Office in Nepal.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Karki said that there were no problems in citizenship bill in terms of NRNs. According to him, the bill will be passed at the earliest as the government was liberal towards the Nepalis residing in foreign land.

“I will take initiation to address the demands of the NRNs as per the constitutional provisions and would make policy reforms to facilitate you,” he said to the delegation.

Attorney General Khamma Bahadur Khati said that the government should take liberal stance to the NRNs considering their contribution to the motherland.

Chairman of Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the Parliament, Laxman Lal Karna, urged the government to address the demands of the NRNs stating that there was consensus on citizenship bill.

Member of the National Assembly, Radheshyam Adhikari, stated that the country should adopt open policy vis-à-vis Nepalis in foreign land in order to stop the brain drain and capital flight. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 August 2021.