KATHMANDU, April 17: In a significant departure from the existing mode of public service delivery, citizens in various districts have started receiving services at their doorsteps. Materializing recent announcements on governance reform, essential documents such as passports and driving licenses are now being delivered to service seekers' residences.
The new system has relieved citizens from the compulsion of standing in long lines and running from one government office chamber to another. More importantly, it has ended the entrenched practice of relying on middlemen to access public services.
Manamaya Bhattarai, Director General of the Department of Postal Services, said the service has already been launched as a pilot scheme in Makawanpur, Myagdi, and Dadeldhura districts. Sankhuwasabha, Nawalparasi East, and other districts are also making final preparations for similar service rollouts.
Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Bikram Timilsina, has been advancing the scheme with special focus and has directed all subordinates to push the campaign forward in a collaborative manner.
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As per the March 27 announcement on governance reform, the government is gradually enforcing the delivery of public services to citizens' doorsteps, including passports, citizenship certificates, driving licenses, and other essential government documents. The plan is to be materialized within 100 days of government formation, in line with the reform agenda.
Rabindra Acharya, Chief District Officer of Myagdi, personally handed over passports to individuals in Beni Municipality Wards 2 and 6 on Wednesday. He told RSS that passports had also been sent to several other locations in the district on the same day. "Positive feedback has been received from citizens who received services at their doorsteps in the initial phase," Acharya emphasized.
The government has adopted a strategy to activate the Department of Postal Services, which has remained largely inactive for the past few years. A plan has been implemented to restructure postal offices into a government courier service. Priority has been given to coordination among the Department of Passports, the Department of Transport Management, the District Administration Office, and the Postal Office for this purpose.
However, Srijana Thapaliya, Chief District Officer of Sankhuwasabha, opined that expanding the service is not as easy because of the lack of systematic house numbering and postal code systems. "Although the government has adopted a policy to deliver passports to service seekers’ doorsteps, it is very difficult to deliver up to local levels in some places," Thapaliya told RSS. "Attention must be paid to geographical complexities as well as human resource management."
She further argued that it is necessary to develop a postal tracking system and information dissemination via SMS, while also resolving problems related to human resource shortages and lack of vehicle services in remote areas. Additional resources and infrastructure are needed to expand postal services in districts with large geographical areas, she added.
The Department of Postal Service has stated that it is planning to provide training to its employees and mobilize new workforce if necessary. However, it appears that effective nationwide implementation of the programme will still take time.
Currently, the district administration office is responsible for collecting and distributing passport-related details. Passports printed by the Department of Passports are sent to district administrations by post, and for distribution, the district administration must again instruct the postal service. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs are working in coordination to eliminate duplicate expenses and time consumption. If the Department of Passports can deliver directly through the postal service, this problem appears solvable.
However, fees for delivering documents to citizens' homes through the postal service have not yet been uniformly determined. According to Bhattarai, clients have been instructed to send documents via post by paying a fee of up to Rs 55. The determination of this fee and related standards is yet to be made uniform nationwide.
Similarly, the postal service is working on how to arrange services that can be accessed from any district administration office and make the entire service process traceable and time-bound. Once this system is fully implemented, service seekers will be able to receive information on whether documents such as passports and licenses have been prepared, their status, and when they will arrive at their home — all on their mobile phones.
Citizens in remote districts, in particular, still rely on the old system. In those areas, lack of infrastructure and manpower may make implementation of the new system difficult. Experts on public service delivery have stated that long-term planning, adequate investment, and continuous monitoring are necessary for the effective implementation of the programme.
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