The news that Nepalis will soon start getting MRPs might not sound very big but it actually is considering all the drama we had to witness and go through to reach here.
To begin with, we missed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)-set deadline to introduce MRPs by April 1, 2010. What followed was nastier and, for quite sometime, one of the major fodders for newspapers in the country. In a controversial decision, Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala awarded the contract to print MRPs to an Indian company even as allegations were rife that the southern neighbor was trying to impinge on our sovereignty. The contract was later scrapped and a French company, Oberthur Technologies, won the final bid but not without a cost. As the MRP drama unfolded, we missed the revised deadline of Aug 1 much to our embarrassment in the eyes of the international community. There were widespread fears that we were all set to miss the newest deadline of Jan 1 but, thankfully, that is not to be.
Issuing passports is a simple exercise that countries around the world engage in and that it became such a big issue in Nepal defies all logic. As Nepalis continued traveling with the archaic hand-written passports, they often faced many obstacles such as being looked upon suspiciously at immigration check points of various countries. Honestly, traveling without a MRP has become quite odd as there are just about 15 countries in the world that are yet to introduce MRPs. But that is soon ending and we cannot but heave a sigh of relief.
The government must now ensure that Nepalis can get MRPs without having to face too many hassles. It is good to learn that MoFA officials will be working in two shifts to make that possible. After April 1, since we missed the first ICAO deadline, passports are being issued just by MoFA and Nepali missions and as a result Nepali citizens have been facing quite a lot of trouble as evident from the serpentine queues in front of the foreign ministry. Now that must not happen. Nepalis not only have to get MRPs, they must get it easily.
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