Kathmandu. It has been claimed that the transformational initiatives initiated by the government with the objective of providing easy, quick and effective service to the citizens are now visible in practice.

As part of an ambitious plan to bring service delivery to the doorsteps of the citizens, essential documents such as passport and driving license are now reaching the doorstep. The 100 agendas related to governance reforms unveiled by the government on March 26 have set a target to provide passport, citizenship copy, license and other services at the doorstep within 100 days.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dr Bikram Timilsina, is actively playing a leading role in implementing this system in coordination with the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Home Affairs and other bodies. Minister for Communications and Information Technology Timilsina also directed the Department of Postal Services to formulate and implement action plan in coordination and collaboration among all bodies and inform the Ministry about possible complications that might be surfaced in course of its implementation.

As the government is moving towards the implementation of this goal, encouraging achievements have started appearing in the initial phase. In some districts, the service has already started on a trial basis and preparations for the expansion are going on in full swing. Director General of the Department of Postal Services, Manmaya Bhattarai Pangeni, said that this service has been successfully started on trial basis in Makwanpur, Myagdi, Dadeldhura and other districts.

Final preparations are being made in other districts as well and all district post offices are preparing action plans according to local needs. The District Administration Offices have also started collecting addresses from the service seekers who come to get passports.

Director General Pangeni said that they have started filling up the form at the time of issuing passport to avail the facility of delivery to their homes. Chief District Officer (CDO) Rabindra Acharya handed over six passports to Beni Municipality Ward No. 2 and 6 on Wednesday. According to him, the service recipients have received very positive response in the initial phase. Acharya said that the citizens have experienced a significant reduction in time, expenditure and hassle.

This initiative has also created an opportunity to reinvigorate and modernize the Department of Postal Services which has been defunct for a long time. Moving away from the traditional mail distribution, the strategy of transforming the post office into a government courier service has been implemented. The collaboration among the Department of Passport, Department of Transport Management, District Administration Office and the Postal Office is expected to make service delivery more effective.

However, considering the country’s geographical diversity and structural challenges, the government has adopted a policy of improvement and strengthening. Director General Pangeni said that the policy of expansion of service has been adopted by addressing the issues such as lack of address system, human resource management and transport access in remote areas.

The government has set a target to expand the country in a phased manner by managing the necessary resources. Similarly, work is underway to systematize and uniformize the standards related to service charge. With the implementation of this system, the compulsion to go to the district headquarters, stand in queue for hours, depend on middlemen and visit the office frequently for service is gradually eliminated. The concept of the state itself reaching out to the doorsteps of the citizens is expected to further strengthen the practice of ‘citizen-friendly governance’.