Women glad at finally being Nepalis
Women glad at finally being Nepalis
Published: 12:00 am Feb 16, 2007
Banke, February 15:
Binnaudevi Srivastav, 38, an Indian national by birth, is delighted at having got Nepali citizenship after 17 years of marriage to a Nepali.
After getting the certificate by virtue of marriage from the mobile citizenship certificate distribution team at her village yesterday, Srivastav said gleefully, “I am happy that I am finally a Nepali citizen.”
Originally from Uttar Pradesh in north India, Binnaudevi got married to Rabindra Kumar Agrawal of Narainapur-9 in 2047 BS. Earlier, the citizenship certificate by virtue of marriage used to be issued only by the District Administration Office (DAO).
Saying that she did not take the citizenship certificate earlier as the DAO at Nepalgunj was too far from her village, Binnaudevi said, “Also, we Indian women don’t step out of our homes so often.”
Fifty-five-year-old Munirjahi Sain of Narainapur-7, who also got her citizenship certificate yesterday by virtue of marriage, said, “I was unable to call myself a Nepali as I didn’t have a citizenship certificate even after marrying in Nepal. Now, I’m very happy that the government decided to send the certificate distribution teams to the villages.”
Ilacha Bhujuwa, 85, of Narainapur-9, who did not get the citizenship certificate even after several decades of coming here, said, “I didn’t know that we too can get citizenship certificates. I’ll apply for a certificate now.”
She added that most Indian women, who have married Nepali nationals, still have not taken citizenship certificates. In most of the villages across Rapti in Banke, such as Katkuiya, Kalaphanta, Laxmanpur, Gangapur and Mataiya, cross-border marriages with Indian nationals are common.
Administrative Officer at the DAO, Gyan Prasad Dhakal, said the distribution of citizenship certificates by virtue of marriage started in Narainapur yesterday. Dhakal, who is also the chief of the citizenship certificate distribution team, said certificates would be distributed to residents of Kalaphanta, Katkuiya, Laxmanpur and Narainapur VDCs in Narainapur till February 24.