BIRGUNJ, Sept 9: A Mobile Citizenship Support Center is being launched in Sarlahi of Province 2 on Thursday. The campaign has been started to help those who have been living in Nepal for generations but do not have citizenship certificates due to lack of information.
“We are trying to help those people who have been living in Nepal for many generations but don’t have Nepali citizenship certificates. We will provide technical and procedural help to those who don’t have complete paperwork as well as those who are not able to approach the authorities concerned for citizenship,” said Raj Kumar Mahato, founder of Bhor, an organization that provides assistance to ethnic people to get citizenship. “There are people from both Dalit and non-Dalit communities that are not able to get citizenship. Many women have not been able to get their citizenship certificates although their husbands have the crucial government document.”
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Due to the lack of proper information and awareness, a significant number of people, especially Dalits, have not been able to get citizenship even though they are indigenous people of Nepal. However, on the other hand, many people of Indian origin have got Nepali citizenship certificates through various tricks.
Bhor will play a major role in providing the free services by the Mobile Citizenship Support Center. This includes providing free citizenship forms, postage stamps, photos for citizenship, xerox copies and files of required documents as well as volunteers’ help to coordinate with the ward office, local government and district administration office. They will also provide free masks and sanitizers to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mahato informed Republica that the program that was started from Chandranagar Rural Municipality of Sarlahi will be gradually implemented in all the eight districts and 136 local units of Province 2 with the support of various individuals and organizations.