Kathmandu, May 25: The Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has decided to set up an oxygen plant in all seven provinces of the country.

The meeting of NRNA chaired by its president Kumar Panta took the decision as there has been increasing cases of COVID-19 in Nepal and more and more fatalities have been reported lately. NRNA has also decided to appeal with the concerned international communities to provide assistance to Nepal, including vaccines. NRNA will also coordinate effort with the UN agencies for the same.

The NRNA has requested the government to prioritize Nepalis when it comes to facilitating passengers of different nationalities to travel to their respective destinations or to come back Nepal as chartered flights have been operated to fly stranded citizens to their respected countries. The NRNA has also urged the government to end the complex process of obtaining permit from the Nepali diplomatic missions for Nepalis who seek to return.

Likewise, the meeting convened last Sunday has urged the government to address their demand regarding dual citizenship identity card for Non-Resident Nepalis, that NRNA has been advocating from a long time. The newly issued ordinance of citizenship identity card has not addressed on the part of granting dual citizenship identity card for the Nepalis settled abroad.

Covid Status of Non-Resident Nepalis

According to the NRNA, in the last two weeks, a total of 41 Nepalis abroad have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in various countries across the world.

The umbrella organization of Nepalis abroad stated that 29 people succumbed to infection in India, eight in Qatar, one each in France, Maldives and Belgium.

Over 100,000 Nepalis living in 54 countries were reported to have contracted the deadly virus infection. Among them, 99,257 were reported to have enjoyed full recovery.

Till date, the COVID-19 fatalities among the Nepalis abroad stands at 423, according to the NRNA. Those fatalities were reported from 28 countries.

(with agency inputs)