KATHMANDU: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Tika Sangraula (Jwala) has urged the government to ensure free cremation services for poor and underprivileged citizens.
Speaking at the House of Representatives on Friday, Sangraula drew the government’s attention to a distressing incident in which a financially struggling citizen called her from Pashupati Aryaghat, saying he had no money to create a relative. She said the call came early Friday morning and left her deeply shaken. “That phone call shocked me and made me very sad,” Sangraula told Parliament. “It is heartbreaking that citizens who pay taxes throughout their lives under various headings are denied a dignified final rite after death.”

According to her, the state’s responsibility does not end with collecting taxes from citizens; it must also help ensure that their final journey is conducted with dignity.
“When the poor and helpless of this country die, the state should at least provide free firewood, a place for cremation, and even a matchstick,” she said.
Sangraula also urged the government to put into practice the slogan that “the government stands with those who have no one.”

“From the moment we are born and placed in a cradle, we have been paying taxes in one form or another. If the state still refuses to act as a guardian even in death, it cannot be called a citizen-friendly state,” she added.

She emphasized that the government should ensure that citizens from economically disadvantaged backgrounds feel that the state is with them even at the time of death.