Kathmandu. The courier service launched by the government with the objective of bringing public service delivery to the doorsteps of the citizens has now been expanded to 60 districts of the country.
The Department
of Postal Services (DoP) has expedited the delivery of passports, driving licenses, educational certificates and other documents at home in an effort to make the government service delivery system ‘digital’ and systematic. Director General of the Department, Manmaya Bhattarai Pangeni, said that although some districts did not cooperate in the initial phase, now the service has started operating effectively in most of the districts. “We are expanding our service by mobilizing mechanisms up to the grassroots level. The compulsion of citizens to visit the offices to get government documents is gradually decreasing,” he said.
According to the department, 28,
169 passports have been transported to the concerned districts since the launch of the programme. Of them, 1,635 passports have already been distributed at the doorsteps of the service recipients. According to the department, the distribution process has become easier as the address of the service recipients has been collected in course of applying for passports at the District Administration Offices.
The use of the postal system is also expanding in the transportation service. According to the department, 470,881 driving licenses have been sent to the concerned transport offices and 671 licenses have been delivered to the home of the country.
The Department of Posts has not only limited itself to the distribution of government documents, but has also increased cooperation with the education and health sectors.
So far, 260 academic certificates have been distributed. The Department said samples of 488 laboratories have been transported in collaboration with the National Public Health Laboratory. The service has been started from Surkhet, Banke and Kathmandu districts.
is preparing to start the service of delivering SIM cards at home in collaboration with Nepal Telecom. According to the Department, the transportation of question papers, answer sheets and certificates has already started with the Mid-Western University while discussions are underway with Nepal Open University for the transportation of academic certificates.
Likewise, a preliminary draft of the agreement with the National Center for Health, Education and Information on mail transportation has been prepared.
According to the Department, discussions are underway regarding transporting the materials to be distributed by Nepal Telecom through postal service.
Similarly, the Department has also started discussions on the issue of transporting materials from the private sector.
The department has also claimed that significant progress has been made in the international courier service.
Director-General Bhattarai said that preparations are being made to expand the postal access to more countries by holding discussions with air service providers. According to him, works are being carried out to upgrade the service system despite limited resources.
Under the systemic reforms, a study committee has been formed to inter-link the system with the Department of Passport and efforts are being made for system integration with the Office of Financial Comptroller General.
The Department has also forwarded the work of upgrading the postal code in the Postal Internal Tracking System (PITS).
Although the government is trying to transform the traditional postal service into a modern government service delivery system, the service is still in its infancy.
As the service is yet to be implemented effectively in most of the districts, there is a need to improve the speed, transparency and reliability of distribution. However, the concept of delivering government services to the citizens at home has indicated that administrative access will be made easier and modern.
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