Kathmandu, December 29

A book unveiled today said that around 4.6 million people in Nepal are still deprived of citizenship.

According to 'Nepal ma Nagarikta Pramanpatra ko Prapti: Anuman ra Prakshyapan' (Acquiring citizenship certificate in Nepal: Prediction and projection) made public by the Forum for Women, Law and Development today, the number to people deprived of citizenship in 2011 was 4.3 million and it might increase up to 6.7 million by 2021.

It said the data included in the book was based on the survey conducted in the past and the predictions made on the basis of previous data.

Advocate Sabin Shrestha, executive director of FWLD, said, “Around 4.6 million people, who are eligible for citizenship, have been deprived of it. The constitutional provisions on citizenship are contradictory with each other. This is the main reason behind the increasing number of people without citizenship,” he added.

Shrestha also informed that the National Planning Commission is working accordingly to provide citizenship to all eligible Nepalis as per its National Development Plan 2030.

According to Founding President of FWLD Sapana Pradhan Malla, the new constitution has given many citizenship-related rights to women but those provisions were not being implemented effectively.