Minister for Information and Communication (MoIC) Minendra Rijal said on Friday that the government would introduce an ICT Policy before it finishes its term. The present administration is required to step down following the promulgation of a new

constitution scheduled for August-end.

“If the constitution can be fast tracked, the ICT Policy can be fast tracked too. It is a small issue. Anyone wishing to hinder this process can do so, but I won’t stop,” said Rijal, speaking at the Stakeholder’s Consultation Programme on the Draft ICT Policy.

According to him, Nepal has bright prospects in terms of exports of IT-enabled services, and the ICT Policy will help the country enter the field. The upcoming policy aims at addressing security concerns in ICT, promoting public access and content development, developing the ICT industry sector and increasing access to telecommunications for differently able people.

With several ministries conducting overlapping tasks currently, the new IT policy is expected to clarify the jurisdiction of each agency. The draft policy has talked about restructuring the MoIC and forming a separate Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MoICT), which will be the focal ministry for all ICT-related matters.

As per the policy, the MoICT will be formed within 2016, and the Nepal Telecommunications Authority will be restructured as the Nepal Communication Authority .

“As the MoIC has been working on preparing a new ICT policy, the task of recommending IT policies to the government has been assigned to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment,” said Rijal, adding that the proposed policy would define the jurisdiction of each agency.

IT expert Manohar Bhattarai said that the upcoming ICT Policy envisions transforming Nepal into an information and

knowledge-based society and economy. “There is a

need to build confidence and security in the use of ICT. We need an ICT policy to do so,” Bhattarai said.  

According to him, e-commerce is one sector which has a great potential in Nepal,

and the upcoming policy

can help the country

benefit by unleashing a

new sector.