BAJURA, SEPTEMBER 28
She is over sixty years old but Durpati Sarki of Ward No 2 of Khaptad Chhededaha Rural Municipality hasn't got a citizenship certificate yet. Besides her, her 27-yearold daughter Mana and son Tej, aged 22, don't have the document either. Lack of this vital document has deprived them of government facilities.
While Durpati is approaching the time for getting senior citizen allowance, her son is visually impaired.
According to ward Chair Bhata Bahadur Budha, both mother and son are deprived of social security allowance due to lack of document.
Durpati was married to Madan Sarki of Khaptad of Ward No 6 of Chhanna Rural Municipality, but after her husband married another woman, she, along with her children, have been living with her parents for the past 17 years.
"I tried to get the certificate as my husband left me and went out of contact after marrying another woman, but my attempts were in vain as I was told to produce the citizenship of my husband, who had fled with another woman, and some other documents vouching for my residence," she said.
Further, she lamented that her son too has been unable to get handicap allowance though he was eligible for it, because of lack of the citizenship certificate.
"As I don't have the citizenship card, my son too can't get it, which is why he can't get the handicap allowance," she explained. Worse, though the government has launched Janata Awas (People's Residence) programme targeting Dalits, she is unable to avail of the facility, for want of the vital document.
"Besides other things, we can't even vote due to lack of citizenship certificate," said her daughter Mana, adding that the lack of document had also dashed her hope of marriage.
The mother and the daughter have asked for help for citizenship certificates.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 29, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
