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Kathmandu Saturday December 22, 2001 Paush 07, 2058.
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‘Cyber law bill to be
tabled soon’
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Dec 21 – The government has
made commitment to table the bill of an act made to provide for the matters relating to
electronic transactions, popularly known as cyber law, in the coming winter session of the
parliament.
State Minister for Science and Technology,
Bhakta Bhadur Balayar said today that the government is committed to table the bill of the
act made to provide for the matters relating to electronic transaction in the coming
session of the parliament.
State Minister Balayar was speaking at a
workshop organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) to discuss the draft
of the act here today.
He said that the government has made efforts
to make the draft more comprehensive by involving the private sector in its formulation.
"The government wants to make the act
well-defined and comprehensive. Hence, we are holding a public consultation today,"
said State Minister Balayar.
He also expressed the view that the
development of information technology (IT) would help resolve the problem of unemployment
and poverty.
Speaking on the occasion, secretary at the
MoST, Mahesh Man Shrestha said the act is imperative to promote, facilitate and regulate
an act relating to information technology and the government is making efforts to enact
the act as soon as possible.
He also said that the implementation of such
an act would also control cyber crimes to a greater extent, as the technology is fast
moving and laws cannot catch up with them. But the government would make necessary
amendment to the governing laws and acts, he added.
"It is highly necessary to make such act
simple, fair and precise. Therefore, the draft of the act is being discussed by experts
and professionals and I hope today’s deliberations would contribute to making the act
more comprehensive and appropriate," said Shrestha.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the
workshop, Rameshananda Vaidya, Member of National Planning Commission (NPC), underlined
that IT should contribute to the enhancement of the living standard of the rural populace.
Citing examples from Andhrapradesh,
Pondicherry, Madhyapradesh and Karnataka states of India, he said, if we can emulate the
ongoing IT projects there, it would greatly help the farmers in the rural areas. In
Karnataka, IT is used to update and keep record of land.
He also said that IT could help in good
governance as it can be used in expressing public grievances and there is a need to
develop software that can be used even by the illiterate segment of the population.
He also said that the government has made
poverty reduction prime agenda of the Tenth Five-Year Plan and IT can be used to reduce
poverty.
Lochan Lal Amatya, President of Computer
Association of Nepal (CAN) emphasized on making the act more comprehensive rather than
heavily concentrate on the electronic commerce only.
Since there are many laws related to the
various aspects of information and communication technology (ICT), other existing laws too
need amendment to be compatible with the present one, said Amatya.
He also suggested that other concerned
authorities should handle cyber crimes, in order to make it effective.
Secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and
Parliamentary Affairs, Udaya Nepali Shrestha and Joint secretary at the MoST also spoke on
the occasion.
The day-long workshop is being participated in
by above 40 professionals, experts and concerned government officials.
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