KATHMANDU, July 15: The House of Representatives (HoR) meeting today approved with a majority the proposal seeking deliberations on the 'Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill, 2079 BS'.
Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota had presented the proposal in the meeting.
The Lower House of the Federal Parliament continued discussions on the principles of the Citizenship Bill today.
Taking part in the deliberations on the proposal, the lawmakers said no citizen should be deprived of their right to citizenship and it should be ensured that no non-Nepali gets it, either.
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Pushpa Bhusal Gautam said the eligible citizens who had not got their citizenship certificates for long will be able to get it after the passage of the bill from parliament. She drew the government's attention toward creating an environment where a citizen will be able to get his/her citizenship without any unnecessary hassles.
Jaya Kumar Rai asserted that it was the constitutional right of the citizen to get the citizenship certificate.
Narayan Prasad Marasini supported the provision of providing citizenship to the NRNs on economic, social and cultural grounds.
Shiva Kumar Mandal stated that citizens deprived of citizenship have felt relief with the introduction of the bill by the government.
Bina Kumari Shrestha said the bill has no provisions as regards the sexual and gender minorities and therefore it was discriminatory to them.
Purna Kumari Subedi stressed that the non-Nepalis should not be provided citizenship while the bona-fide Nepali citizens should not be deprived of their right to citizenship.
Sanjaya Kumar Gautam opined that the government has, by bringing the Citizenship Bill, provided relief to the citizens deprived of citizenship while Sarala Kumari Yadav said the government had brought a new bill by withdrawing the old one so that no Nepali citizen is in a state of statelessness.
Pramila Rai drew the government's attention to providing citizenship certificates to all bonafide Nepali citizens without any discrimination.
Pabitra Niraula Kharel said the sons and daughters of many a Nepali have been deprived of their right to education, employment etc. during the absence of the Citizenship Bill.
Binda Pandey protested that this bill was not in consonance with the provision related to citizenship mentioned in the constitution and therefore it was against the right to equality.
