The reason behind the inordinate delay is not that the local administration in Dolpa does not have necessary human resources. Instead, Dolpa District Administration Office has decided not to depute the mobile teams "for the time being" as all the villagers have left for the high valleys to pick Yarsagumba, the prized caterpillar fungus, leaving entire villages deserted.
Also known as Himalayan viagra, Yarsagumba fetches astronomical prices in traditional Chinese medicine and is the sole source of income for most people living in the district. “We are told that the local administration has yet to send out mobile citizenship distribution teams as all the villages in the district are currently deserted,” said Home Ministry Spokesperson Shanker Koirala. “The local administration has been asked to depute the mobile teams as early as possible to accomplish the task.”[break]
As per the 11-point political deal among the four major political forces -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF)--that broke the prolonged political deadlock in mid-March, the government had started deputing mobile citizenship certificate distribution teams across the country. The decision was taken as citizenship certificates are a must for voter registration with photos.
Officials said the citizenship certificate distribution program is being implemented in full swing in all the districts except Dolpa. And what is unique this time around, according to the officials, is that the number of women receiving citizenship certificates through the mobile teams is higher than the number of men.
Only in three of the 75 districts has the number of men receiving citizenship certificates been higher than the women. In Sankhuwasabha district, 262 men have taken their citizenship certificates to date as against only 212 women. Likewise, 618 men and 576 women in Sarlahi district and 1,541 men and 1,322 women in Bara have taken citizenship certificates through the mobile teams as of Monday.
Home Ministry Spokesperson Koirala lauded the development as "positive". “The ratio of women is higher than men in terms of taking citizenship certificates through mobile teams. This is certainly a positive thing. It may be that the turnout of women has been higher than the males as women who otherwise do not wish to travel to district headquarters just for acquiring citizenship certificates had the opportunity to get them in their own villages,” said Koirala.
Home Ministry officials also ascribe this development to the growing awareness among women. “Obviously, the level of awareness among women has increased considerably. As they are growing more assertive over their rights, women even in rural areas appear to understand the importance of citizenship certificates,” said another senior official, asking to remain unnamed as he is not authorized to talk to media.
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