Kathmandu. Kathmandu: The House of Representatives (HoR) today passed the ‘Nepal Citizenship (Second) Bill, 2082 BS’ with a majority. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak had presented a proposal in today’s meeting demanding the passage of the bill. Earlier in the day, Home Minister Lekhak presented a proposal seeking discussion on the Nepal Citizenship (Second Amendment) Bill, 2081 along with the report of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee.

Presenting the proposal, Home Minister Lekhak said that the bill has guaranteed the provision of citizenship in the name of the mother to the children born to nepali citizen mothers. “This bill has been brought to ensure citizenship in the name of mother. The bill seeks to implement the court’s verdicts on citizenship-related issues at different times,” said Home Minister Lekhak. According to him, women who have gone for foreign employment will give birth to children abroad, but such children will not have to be without citizenship when they return to Nepal.

According to the bill, a person who was born abroad from a nepali mother and resided in Nepal, did not have citizenship or passport of a foreign country and did not have the identity of his father can get naturalized Nepali citizenship if he declares himself as prescribed. Similarly, a minor who has not attained the age of 16 years and has at least one Nepali citizen among his father or mother can be given a minor identity card.

During the discussion on the bill, lawmaker Prakash Jwala expressed the belief that the passage of the bill would pave the way for getting citizenship in the name of mother. Lawmaker Jwala said that this bill would be important to make legal provisions so that genuine Nepali citizens are not deprived of citizenship and non-citizens do not get citizens under any circumstances.

Lawmaker Jwala Kumari Sah said the law was necessary to make provisions related to citizenship without affecting national security, unity and sovereignty. Similarly, if a Nepali woman is married to a foreign national, then the children born to such parents want to take Nepali citizenship in the name of their mother, then such citizens will now have to be without citizenship.

Prem Suwal said that the people of the border areas have always faced problems related to citizenship and a clear provision should be made in this regard through the bill. Although the system of giving citizenship in the name of mother is good, it is necessary to search for the father, he said.

Lawmaker Ram Krishna Yadav expressed the belief that the problems related to citizenship would be resolved if the bill is passed and implemented. Stating that problems related to citizenship are high in the Tarai districts, he said that people without citizenship should be deprived of the services they deserve from the state. Yadav said the provisions in the bill would solve the problems of such people.

Lawmaker Ranju Kumari Jha said that the bill has been brought to implement the precedent of the Supreme Court’s order that citizenship can be given in the name of the mother. Lawmaker Chitra Bahadur KC expressed concern that the bill could not solve the citizenship-related disputes and problems arising out of the open border with India, even though there was a lot of discussion and discussion in the House on the issue of citizenship.

Lawmakers Rupa Soshi Chaudhary, Sher Bahadur Kunwar, Madhav Sapkota, Mukta Kumari Yadav, Narayani Sharma, Purna Bahadur Gharti, Bhagwati Chaudhary, Amritlal Rajbanshi, Kantika Sejuwal, Sushila Thing and Amrita Devi Agrahari among others expressed their views on the bill.