Kathmandu, March 7

Chief District Officers must give a written reason to the applicant why s/he is ineligible to obtain citizenship card, if the office has rejected an application for citizenship card, within the given time frame.

The parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee today decided that CDOs cannot reject an applicant without giving him or her a written reason. This is the first time that the citizenship bill makes the CDOs answerable regarding provision of citizenship card.

But the committee has yet to come up with a time duration for the CDOs’ answer to applicants. “Further meeting of the committee will finalise the time duration,” lawmaker Jhapat Rawal said.

Lawmakers have registered amendment proposals to the bill that has asked CDOs to reply within seven or fifteen days. “We will finalise the time duration after further discussion,” lawmaker Rekha Sharma said.