Nepali brides flag Aadhaar, ID hurdles at camp near Indo-Nepal border

Pithoragarh: Difficulties faced by Nepali women married into Indian families in obtaining Aadhaar cards and other identity documents dominated the Jan Jan Ke Dwar programme organised by the Pithoragarh district administration on Thursday at Pipli village in Kanalichhena block, close to the India–Nepal border. Residents told officials that the lack of basic identity documents for these women was severely limiting their access to govt welfare schemes, healthcare and other essential services.Situated around 55km from Pithoragarh town on the banks of the Kali river, Pipli village serves as the headquarters of the Pipli Nyaya Panchayat. Its proximity to Nepal has made cross-border marriages common for generations, sustaining the age-old ‘roti-beti' ties between the two countries. "The problem affects the very foundation of the roti-beti relationship. Parents in Nepal say the Indian govt discriminates against their daughters who marry here because they are denied identity documents," said Harish Pande, a local resident. Sekhar Murari, a social worker, added that while cross-border marriages have long been part of life in the region, their scale has changed over time. "Earlier, the number of Nepali women marrying into Indian families was small, and documentation was not an issue. They lived without papers," he said. Moreover, because Nepali citizens already enjoy certain rights under the 1950 India–Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and because the process of acquiring Indian citizenship is lengthy, many women do not apply for it.Murari pointed out that the situation has worsened over the past two decades. "With the adverse sex ratio, the number of Nepali brides has risen sharply. At the same time, documents such as Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID have become mandatory for accessing even basic services but Nepali women are unable to obtain these documents. This is not limited to one village—it is a problem along the entire Nepal border," he said.As a result, many women remain dependent on benefits received in the names of their Indian family members, while they themselves are unable to claim any entitlements.Pithoragarh district magistrate (DM) Ashish Kumar Bhatgai said the issue has repeatedly surfaced during Jan Jan Ke Dwar camps in border areas. "The matter has been conveyed to the govt," he said, adding that any policy intervention would have to be implemented at the national level, as the issue concerns citizenship and administration and affects multiple states bordering Nepal. "Even within Uttarakhand, the problem is not confined to Pithoragarh alone but is seen in districts such as Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar as well," added the DM. Beyond documentation concerns, villagers also raised several long-pending issues during the programme, including a shortage of teachers, dilapidated school buildings, poor road conditions and weak connectivity in the remote border region. The Uttarakhand govt's ‘Jan-Jan Ki Sarkar, Jan-Jan Ke Dwar' initiative was launched in Dec to take governance to the doorsteps of people living in remote, border and far-flung areas and ensure quicker, more transparent redressal of public grievances.