KATHMANDU, March 17: The government has made arrangements to ensure that children, the disabled, the helpless, and citizens over 90 years of age can access essential services even without a national identity card.
Speaking at a meeting of the House of Representatives on Monday, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak said that arrangements have been made to allow children, the disabled, the helpless, and citizens above 90 years of age to avail essential services even if they do not have a national identity card. He said that this provision has been made to ensure that there are no obstacles in accessing services.
The government had recently made the national identity card mandatory for accessing all types of public services.
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The government has made an arrangement for citizens to present their national identity card instead of their Nepali citizenship certificate to avail or request public services provided by government-owned bodies, institutions, and the private sector.
From July 16, 2024, the government made it mandatory to use the national identity card for all types of public services across the country. A Cabinet meeting on June 6, 2024, decided that the national identity card would be mandatory in the first phase for renewing social security allowances in 28 districts starting from July 16 the same year.
In the second phase, the national identity card was made mandatory in an additional 38 districts effective from January 14, 2025. The national identity card has been made mandatory to receive social security allowance in all 77 districts across the country from July 17, 2025 onward.
On Monday, Minister Lekhak said that arrangements have been made for children, the disabled, the helpless, and citizens above 90 years of age to access essential services even without a national identity card.
