Women lawmakers ask Home Minister to address issues of citizenship, visit visa

Kathmandu / March 7: Women lawmakers have urged Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand to address the issues relating to citizenship and visit visa.

Lawmakers Mahalaxmi Upadhyay ‘Dina’, Rangamati Shahi, Brinda Pandey, Bimala Rai Poudel and Bina Shrestha held a meeting with Minister Khand on Sunday to draw his attention to the issues on citizenship and visit visa on Sunday.

On the occasion, UML lawmaker Pandey urged Minister Khand to create an environment to pass the bill on citizenship which had already been forwarded to the federal parliament from the HoR Committee.

Pandey said that it would be appropriate to formulate laws by passing the bill since common understanding had been forged on all contentious issues except for marital naturalized citizenship.

Minister Khand’s press coordinator Madhusudan Bhattarai shared that women leaders asked Minister Khand to take initiatives at the earliest possible since a large number of people without citizenship cards are facing hardships to open bank accounts, enroll at school and submit applications for employment due to the issue of citizenship. They also drew the attention of Minister Khand to ensure at least 50 percent participation of women in the recruitment of temporary police personnel and other officials in the upcoming elections.RSS