For Effective Media
MINISTER for Information and Communications
Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta said that His Majesty’s Government was committed to make the
official media more effective, impartial and credible. Answering the queries raised by
lawmakers in the House of Representatives, Lower House of parliament, Minister Gupta
informed that the Ministry of Information and Communication was working out a long-term
plan of action pertaining to information and communication sector. He also highlighted the
activities carried out by His Majesty’s Government for the development of
communication sector in Nepal. It is beyond any shade of doubt that communication sector
has made relatively more progress than any other fields in the recent years. In the wake
of global revolution in the field of information and communication, Nepal has made some
serious and significant efforts to benefit from the advancement of information technology.
After the restoration of democracy 11 years ago, Nepal has adopted open and liberal policy
in every sector including information and communication. In view of the strong and
effective role of television, the government has made efforts to enhance the quality and
reach of the Nepal Television. It was only recently that Nepal Television was hooked with
satellite in order to make its reach wider. Efforts are also being made to build necessary
technical infrastructure and back up to make the NTV programmes more qualitative. As a
part of these efforts, preparations have already been made to start a metro channel of
Nepal Television and also a second channel of Radio Nepal. Under the open and liberal
policy, the government has granted licenses to different private companies to run FM
radios. Likewise, there has been significant development in the telecommunication and the
Internet sector as well. In fact, Nepal’s telecommunication sector is one of the best
in South Asia. Breaking government monopoly, the private sector has been encouraged to
invest in communication sector. As a result, some private companies have shown interest in
it. It was the private sector that introduced and developed Internet and email services in
Nepal. As said by Minister Gupta, Nepal has made a good and encouraging progress in the
field of information and communication. However, there is still a lot of room for more
progress and improvement. The government is seeking more private sector investment in this
field. For this, policies and legal provisions have been made very relaxed to attract more
investment so that Nepal’s communication sector would make further progress and
development in future.
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