Kathmandu: The Bill to Amend Citizenship Act, 2079 BS has been tabled at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand tabled the bill at the meeting after the House rejected the protest notice presented by lawmakers Prem Suwal, Sher Bahadur Tamang, and Bhim Bahadur Rawal.
The government on Friday had withdrawn a Bill to Amend Citizenship Act that was under consideration in Parliament for the past four years.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Tuesday decided to withdraw the bill saying to forge a consensus unanimously on the citizenship-like sensitive issue.
The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives debated the bill for more than two years, but it failed to forge an agreement. The provision on the bill was then put to vote after parties were sharply divided on the proposal to provide citizenship to foreign women married to Nepali men. The committee, through a majority vote, then approved a clause fixing a seven-year cooling-off period before granting naturalized citizenship.
The new bill has omitted the provision.
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