“We will introduce a communications policy within five months as a first entry-point in promoting communications technology,” said Rijal, while addressing the inaugural ceremony of ICT Electronics and Branding Expo 2014 here today.
Rijal said that based on the policy, the government will be bringing a Communications Act as it was the government’s responsibility to introduce favourable rules to involve the private sector in the development drive of the ICT sector. “It is either with the private sector or through public-private partnership model that growth in ICT can be achieved,” opined Rijal.
In the programme, private sector representatives criticised the government for neglecting the ICT sector that had been crucial in the development of every other sector.
Tulasi Paudel, managing director of Easy Pay, said that the present development in ICT sector was due to the push from the private sector rather than the government’s initiative.
Participants in the programme underlined the need to increase the use of ICT in fields including education, health and agriculture. Ashish Sinha, commerce counsellor at the Indian Embassy said that since ICT holds immense potential for achieving progress, they were willing to assist in providing skill and capacity building trainings in the sector.
Meanwhile, Mahashram Sharma, spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, informed that they were working on a master plan that aims to extend ICT in school and encourage smart learning. “The ministry is also working on a project to make internet service available in 8,000 government schools,” he added.
The five-day expo, which will conclude on April 28, is providing a platform for multiple brands of ICT products and services to create brand awareness. Shishir Upadhyay, president of ICT Association of Nepal, the organiser of the event, said that the event is being held each year to showcase the latest development in the ICT sector and promote its use.
According to Upadhyay, in a bid to make ICT accessible to rural students and increase the use of ICT, the association will distribute computers to rural schools. “We will also distribute school management software to 500 community schools for free,” he added. Apart from effective management, the software will also help in developing websites of schools that adopt the software. The software is priced at Rs 15,000 for the general public.
There are 104 stalls of dealers and companies dealing with ICT products and services in the expo. Branded computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones of different brands, televisions, power solutions, electric bikes and many others are being exhibited at the fair. - See more at: http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Govt+to+launch+new+communications+policy+in+five+months&NewsID=412773#sthash.un4EMWHY.dpuf
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