INSEC Facilitates Citizenship and National Identity Card for 60-Year-Old Senior Citizen Woman

Sukha Maya Rai, 60, of Ratanchha, Ward No. 2 of Sakela Rural Municipality, who had long been deprived of social security benefits because the state was unable to verify her Nepali citizenship certificate based on available records and identification indicators, has now gained access to social security through the initiative of INSEC.

Her citizenship certificate had effectively become invalid after records and details corresponding to the information stated in the certificate were destroyed when the building of the District Administration Office, Khotang, was set on fire by the then-rebel side during the armed conflict. As a result, the state was unable to authenticate the citizenship certificate that remained in her possession.

After the state was unable to verify her damaged citizenship certificate through available records and identifying indicators, Sukh Maya Rai was effectively left without recognized citizenship status. As a National Identity Card is mandatory for accessing state-provided social security benefits and banking services, obtaining a new citizenship certificate has become essential. Following INSEC’s intervention, however, Sukh Maya Rai was finally able to receive a new Nepali citizenship certificate.

Having lost both her parents at the age of eight, Rai had been living with relatives within three generations of her family. Although she had obtained citizenship through a mobile registration team prior to the armed conflict, all official records relating to her were erased from government archives after the District Administration Office was set on fire during the conflict.

For obtaining a new citizenship certificate, procedures such as a field verification report and kinship verification from Ward Office No. 2 of Sakela Rural Municipality were required. Accordingly, on June 9, Rajan Rai, a brother within three generations of Sukh Maya Rai, submitted an application to the INSEC Khotang focal person requesting necessary assistance to complete the process.

Similarly, INSEC submitted a request letter to the Ward Chairperson of Sakela Rural Municipality–2 on June 10, urging facilitation of the citizenship process. The request highlighted that due to the absence of a citizenship certificate and National Identity Card, the unmarried elderly woman was being deprived of state-provided social security benefits, and therefore needed assistance in obtaining citizenship.

Following INSEC’s initiative and request, the Ward Office of Sakela Rural Municipality–2 issued a kinship verification certificate on June 12, confirming Sukh Maya Rai as the daughter of Dhan Bahadur Rai.

With coordination and facilitation from INSEC, the District Administration Office provided Sukh Maya Rai, at the age of 60, with a Nepali citizenship certificate and a National Identity Card number on June 13, as confirmed by Assistant Chief District Officer Kopila Rai.

Ward Chairperson Deependra Kumar Rai of Sakela Rural Municipality–2, Ratanchha, stated that following INSEC’s coordination and support, Sukh Maya Rai had obtained both a new citizenship certificate and a National Identity Card number, which would now enable her to receive unmarried and senior citizen social security allowances.

The Constitution of Nepal, 2015, under Part 2, Articles 10 to 15, provides constitutional provisions relating to citizenship.

Article 10 stipulates that no Nepali citizen shall be deprived of the right to obtain citizenship.