June 25: Non-cooperation by family members for someone from the same family to acquire a citizenship certificate is subjected to punishment, according to the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Act, 2079 BS. This is punishable by three months in prison and Rs 10,000 in fine. In this case, the respective district office can direct the family members to cooperate for other members of the same family to get a citizenship card. Violation of this directive is subjected to punishment. This is expected to help people acquire a citizenship certificate when their family tries to disown them.    
The Act has provisioned the grant of a Nepali citizenship certificate to non-resident Nepalis along with their access to social, cultural and economic rights.    
Member of the House of Representatives Raj Kumar Sharma said with the implementation of the Act, around 3.5 million people would get a Nepali citizenship certificate. He was participating in a discussion orgaanised by the Forum for Women, Law and Development. The theme of the discussion was the ‘role of media in the implementation of the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Act, 2079 BS’.    
Similarly, the forum’s executive director Sabin Shrestha said the Act still discriminates against women who have married a foreign national because a provision in the Act does not allow to grant a Nepali citizenship card to their husbands.    
Other speakers, Sushma Gautam, Binod Devkota and Binu Lama stressed the need for reviewing the provision that makes it mandatory for those in ‘other’ category to get recommendations from the medical committee to get a Nepali citizenship certificate. -- RSS