Kathmandu. Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dr Bikram Timilsina, has said that it is necessary to identify whether the information circulating in social media is rumor or authentic.

“The recent news that the government is preparing to provide new mobile phones to every minister is completely misleading and imaginary,” he said.

During a meeting with the locals at Chhahare Bazaar of Likhu rural municipality-6 in the district, Minister Timilsina said the information disseminated late through social media and other media was not true. He also suspected that such information might have been spread with a wrong intention.

On the occasion, Minister Timilsina urged the citizens to verify the authenticity of any information and the credibility of its source before sharing it. “It is the responsibility of every conscious citizen to seek authenticity before believing and disseminating unverified information,” he said.

On the occasion, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr Timilsina made it clear that the incumbent government was committed to utilizing the resources collected from the tax collected from the citizens’ tax and urged the citizens to be alert if the people’s money was misused anywhere. “We must not stop asking questions based on truth. It also makes the government more responsible. But we have to be careful whether all the information that is being circulated is true or not,” he said.

According to him, the government’s priority was to improve the living standard of the citizens and the overall development of the country. In this context, he said that the government led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah was moving ahead with the policy of zero tolerance and no irregularities or misuse of position would be tolerated. He made it clear that the government adopted a policy of initiating investigation and taking necessary action as soon as questions were raised.

On the occasion, Minister Timilsina said the government was committed to carrying out works keeping people’s expectation and voice at the centre. He said that the time has come to work in a result-oriented manner as the works related to easy service delivery, good governance and infrastructure development have not been carried out as expected in the past years. “Our goal is to show it by deed, not by talking. We believe in evidence and results rather than expressions,” he said.

Urging not to expect immediate miracles as the development process is gradual, he stressed the need to move ahead with a long-term vision. According to him, the government has given priority to reaching out to the villages to directly listen to the voice of the citizens and formulate policies and programmes on the basis of this.

On the occasion, Minister Timilsina said that he was aware of the overall development of the district and the aspirations of the local people and pledged to address these needs in days ahead. He also urged the citizens for positive suggestions and cooperation, saying the government was moving ahead with the goal of completing the development works which had not been completed in the past 20 years within the next five years.