The government has started preparations for providing citizenship certificates to nearly three million people across the country.
The government is planning to mobilize 520 teams to distribute citizenship certificates to nearly three million eligible citizens in the next two and half months. Each team will comprise seven members, including a gazetted officer to distribute citizenship certificates.
The mobile teams will distribute certificates on the basis of descent, birth and residence.
Certificates will also be issued on the basis of the citizenship of the mother, as per the recently adopted Citizenship Act 2006.
The Kathmandu Post daily quoted joint secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoH), Dron Pokhrel as saying that the figure is based in estimates forwarded to the ministry by all 75 District Administration Offices.
The ministry has already placed an order with the Department of Print (DoP) to print three million citizenship cards till January 31. The DoP is using all eight of its offset presses to meet the delivery deadline.
Officials at the MoH said that they are planning to send 50 percent citizenship cards across the country by mid January 2007.
According to Pokhrel, the hologram for the cards will be brought from India.
The new card includes the names and citizenship numbers of both the father and mother and will also give the names of the spouse among other things.
As the ministry steps up procedures and arrangements for citizenship distribution, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has already disbursed Rs. 60 million to MoH for the purpose.
The government has approved a total budget of Rs. 130 million for the citizenship distribution.
The MoH has arranged to provide life insurance cover of one million rupees each for three months to civil servants going to the field to distributed citizenship.
