Today 882

Yesterday 4831

All 44159115

Tuesday, 1.07.2025
Transforming Government since 2001
In order to simplify various services provided to the Kathmandu denizens, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City is making plans to shift from orthodox procedures to the high-tech IT-based technology. With the use of updated technology, KMC officials said its customers will get better, easy and efficient service in future.

Every year, the metropolis earmarks a fragment of its annual budget to introduce a progressive IT-based system which will strengthen the e-governance. KMC officials said they are now committed to making this shift to the IT system. “We are in process of transition from governance to e-governance. This will ease service delivery and relieve the consumers,” said Rabin Man Shrestha, an official at the KMC.

Read more: NP: Kathmandu Metropolitan City to concentrate on e-governance

Surya Laxmi Lama, a resident of Thaha Municipality-1 in Makwanpur district and a lung cancer patient, reaches the Primary Health Centre at Palung for her follow-up care. Not that the health centre provides cancer treatment, but the facility offers telemedicine service thanks to which patients like Surya Laxmi can have appointments with doctors in Kathmandu.

Chiniya Lama, assistant health worker at the centre, said that 20 cancer patients are availing themselves of the service that only requires a working computer and Internet connection. “We got started six months ago. Now, the patients like Surya Laxi can have direct interaction with the doctors in the capital, explain the problems they are having and get the right medical advice,” he said.

Read more: NP: Telemedicine benefits Makwanpur villages

The government is unveiling the much awaited Broadband Policy within one and half months.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has already directed Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) - the telecom sector regulator -- finalize the draft as per the format provided by it.

“The draft will be endorsed within 45 days. We have already asked NTA to fianalize it soon,” Suman Prasad Sharma, secretary of MoIC, said.

Read more: NP: Broadband Policy coming within 45 days

With the objective of maintaining transparency in government biddings, the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) has launched a portal where all bidding-related information will be available to prospective bidders.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala inaugurated the portal while marking PPMO´s eighth anniversary at the Prime Minister´s Official Residence in Baluwatar on Tuesday.

Read more: NP: All govt bidding info to be made available online

More informed public debates on the necessity and feasibility of digital technologies are necessary

The carefully orchestrated ‘hi-tech’ inaugural of the CPN-UML general convention ended rather unceremoniously as the party returned to the age-old paper balloting for the party elections, instead of adopting the swadeshi electronic voting machines (EVMs), as was originally intended.

The two factions in the party, one led by an ex-prime minister and the other by the party’s parliamentary leader, might have had indistinct political economic visions for the country but they publicly took opposite stances on EVMs. Iphone holders in one faction repeated the manufacturer’s claim that the EVM’s design was easy, effective and culturally grounded. The suspicious in the other feared, rather vaguely, that the use of technology would somehow result in their electoral loss. It was a third party expert assessment by technologists that helped the party’s standing committee postpone the use of machine voting.

Read more: NP: Digital democracy on demand

Go to top