Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: Remarkable progress has been seen in the distribution of passport and driving license in the first phase through the Department of Postal Services with an objective of providing government services at home. Director General of the Department of Postal Services, Manmaya Bhattarai Pangeni, said that concrete achievements have been made in the last one month to reach service delivery to the citizens.

The doorstep delivery of passport service launched by the government has been started in 14 districts and as of Tuesday 311 passports have been distributed at the doorsteps of the service recipients. The service has been expanded to Gulmi, Dadeldhura, Jhapa, Sindhupalchowk, Kalikot, Makwanpur, Bajhang, Kaski, Morang, Dhankuta and Baitadi by signing an agreement.

Similarly, all the district administration offices have started collecting addresses from the service seekers who come to make passports. It is believed that this will make the service delivery more systematic. Similarly, significant progress has been made in the distribution of driving licenses. As of 3:00 pm on April 29, 256,126 licenses have been sent to the transport offices of the concerned districts.

In coordination with the transport offices from Morang and Kaski, the work of delivering the license to the doorstep has started. The government has set a target to modernize the postal service and develop it as a courier service under the 100-day agenda on governance reforms unveiled on March 27. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are coordinating under this.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dr Bikram Timilsina, has directed the bodies concerned to work collaboratively and resolve problems to make the implementation effective.

Similarly, the Department of Postal Services has made remarkable progress in improving the services in various other areas. The complementary agreement with the National Public Health Laboratory regarding the supply of laboratory samples has reached the final stage while technical preparations have been started with the Nepal Telecom to send the SIM cards to the doorsteps.

The second phase of discussion has been held with Tribhuvan University for the transfer of certificates, while the work of transporting question papers, answer sheets and certificates has been started with Mid-Western University.

The Foreign Postal Customs Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been brought into operation on holidays and the expressway service has also been brought into operation to facilitate the transportation of postal goods. In addition, the draft of the postal line has been reviewed and the draft has reached the final stage of approval and a study committee has been formed for the inter-linkage of the system with the Department of Passport and a preliminary report has been submitted.

Director-General Bhattarai said that necessary initiatives have been taken for the integration of the system with the Office of Financial Comptroller General. Despite the challenges such as geographical diversity, lack of address system, human resource management and transport access in remote areas, the government has adopted the policy of expanding the service by addressing it in a phased manner.

Similarly, work is underway to systematize and uniformize the service charge. With the implementation of this system, the compulsion of service seekers to visit the district headquarters, standing in long queues, depending on middlemen and visiting the office again and again has been eliminated. The practice of providing services at the doorsteps of the citizens by the state itself has strengthened citizen-friendly governance, while on the other hand, the postal service which seemed to be inactive for a long time has been transformed into a modern, effective and reliable service system.