Applicants are seeing queuin up outside the office of District Administration Office, Morang, on Wednesday. Photo: Himal Press
ITAHARI: Following the Supreme Court’s order to implement the Citizenship Bill authenticated by President Ram Chandra Paudel, there has been a rush to obtain citizenship by descent in Sunsari and Morang districts of Koshi Province.
The District Administration Office in Sunsari has assigned specific dates for citizens to apply for citizenship according to their local units to manage the crowd. In Morang, people have been queuing up from early morning.
Humkala Pandey, the Chief District Officer of Sunsari, said that the Sunsari administration has started distributing citizenship by descent. “We have been issuing citizenship certificates to applicants who have all the necessary documents,” Pandey informed Himal Press. “On Tuesday, we distributed citizenship certificates to 47 applicants, and we have distributed 180 tokens to applicants for Wednesday. The number can reach 200.”
The Sunsari administration has allocated different days for each local unit to handle the crowd effectively. According to the notice, the administration will accept applications from the people of Itahari Sub-metropolitan City on Tuesday, Ramdhuni Municipality and Bhokraha Rural Municipality on Monday, Barahakshetra Municipality on Tuesday, Duhabi Municipality on Wednesday, Inaruwa Municipality and Gadhi Rural Municipality on Thursday, and Koshi Rural Municipality on Friday.
Although Thursday is a public holiday, the Sunsari administration has announced that the office will remain open to provide services related to citizenship certificates, passports, and national ID cards.
Meanwhile, in Morang, applicants have been queuing up early in the morning for citizenship certificates. The District Administration Office issued tokens to 40 applicants on Monday and Tuesday. However, for Wednesday, they have distributed 190 tokens, as stated by Pradeep Sah, the information officer of the District Administration Office, Morang.
People were observed queuing outside the office of the District Administration Office in Morang since late Tuesday evening. Sunil Sardar from Budhiganga Rural Municipality-1 mentioned that he joined the queue at 9 pm on Tuesday.
“Despite heavy rains, many people queued up during the night,” a police personnel on duty informed Himal Press.
