KATHMANDU: The parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee has given five directives to the government for management of unidentified dead bodies Thursday.

Firstly, pointing out that records of unidentified bodies maintained by Nepal Police, Government Attorney offices and hospitals were not consistent, the committee ordered the authorities concerned to coordinate, as required, to maintain consistency on data of unclaimed bodies across the country.

Secondly, the committee ordered the government to expedite distribution of national identity card (NIC). As per the committee, biometric systems in NIC will help identify unclaimed bodies.

Thirdly, Nepal Police ought to regularly update information, photos and details of such unclaimed corpse. The security agency has been asked to put such details on the agency website’s landing page or create a separate website to publicize details on unidentified bodies.

Fourth, the committee has also ordered to manage dead bodies by maintaining adequate records up to 20 years. Such records should also include the deceased’s thumb print, and adequate publicity for identification should be done before cremating unidentified bodies.

Finally, it has asked the Home Ministry to expedite the process of drafting guideline for management of unidentified bodies.

The committee lastly expects the government to bring down the number of unidentified bodies to zero by implementing above mentioned directives, and more, as necessary, in this regard.