Citizenship records go hi-tech

POST REPORT

KATHMANDU, Dec 30 - In an effort to introduce e-governance in government offices, the government has started issuing printed citizenship certificates from the three District Administration Offices (DAOs) of the Kathmandu Valley.
The Home Ministry has initiated this task with technical assistance from the High Level Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT) and National Information Technology Center (NITC).

With the introduction of the new system, 65, 23 and 20 new citizenships have been issued from the respective DAOs of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur respectively.

To date, the government has issued more than 12 million citizenship certificates from various DAOs. However, because of lack of information sharing between the different DAOs, the details of citizenship certificates could be determined from only one location where it was issued. But with the computerized system, particulars regarding citizenship certificates can be viewed from any location.

Talking to the Post, Atma Ram Ghimire, member secretary of HLCIT, said that this step would streamline the process and reduce the existing hassles prevalent in citizenship issuance procedures.

Moreover, Ghimire added that the government has decided to implement the computerized issuance procedure in a phase-wise manner. "In the second phase, the government is planning to implement the system in 11 more districts," said Ghimire. The cost of implementing the system has been calculated at around Rs 100,000.