NRNs’ getting Nepali citizenship is big achievement: PM Dahal

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said arrangements have been made for providing the non-resident Nepali citizenship to the Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) after much struggle and efforts.

Distributing non-resident Nepali citizenship to the NRNs amidst a program organized at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar today, he said this is a great achievement.

“I have made a great deal of struggle and initiation to have the provision of providing the non-resident citizenship with the economic and cultural rights to the NRNs incorporated in the Constitution of Nepal. You have acquired the constitutional right on the strength of this initiation,” the PM said.

Recalling that the Citizenship Bill became a law and its regulation was formulated after the Bill was endorsed by the President on the request of the new government under his leadership, Prime Minister said, “I am confident that the hundreds of thousands of NRNs in foreign land will understand the non-resident Nepali citizenship was achieved through whose struggle and initiatives. You will also explain to all friends and the Nepali community this fact and make them understand it accordingly.”

He further said that many issues related to the NRNs have been addressed through the government’s policies and programs, and the budget. In this connection, the minimum threshold of foreign investment has been reduced from Rs 50 million and maintained at Rs 20 million.

“Legal provisions have been made for opening the non-resident Nepalis’ investment in the secondary securities market. Similarly, the decision to encompass the workers on foreign employment into the contribution-based social security program through the Social Security Fund has been implemented. This is a historical work,” the PM reiterated.

According to him, so far more than 300 thousand laborer’s have joined this program and the government is convinced that this number will further increase in the coming days.

Reminding that the Nepalis spread throughout the world are Nepal’s non-resident envoys, he said that the nation expected a lot from the NRNs. The PM mentioned on the occasion that the government has been collaborating with the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) since its inception. Various programs targeting the NRNs have been announced through the budget statement for the current fiscal year, he added.

NRNA Executive President Badri KC said with the distribution of Nepali citizenship to NRNs, the campaign ‘Once a Nepali you always remain a Nepali’ has become meaningful.

‘The citizenship is not just a paper. It’s a responsibility. Nepalis living abroad should contribute to the motherland’s prosperity”, he stressed.

Stating that ‘Diaspora’ has a significant role in the country’s development, President Kul Acharya mentioned that citizenship has connected people residing abroad with the motherland.

Likewise, NRNA Founding President Upendra Mahato shared that the Non-Resident Nepali citizenship is not just a piece of paper, it is the part of the heart.

Extending gratitude towards the government and political parties for the legal arrangements to provide citizenship to NRNs, he assured that the NRNs would continuously   engage to make Nepal prosperous.