Progress in developing CeCs in country snail-paced

Government says lengthy and cumbersome procedures are to be blamed for the delay

KATHMANDU: Even after three years since the project started, the progress in establishing 81 community e-centres (CeCs) in 52 districts of the country has been painstakingly slow. 

The government has received $1.9 million in grant from the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) under the project ‘Empowering the Rural Communities Reaching the Unreached’ for setting up CeCs, which aims to facilitate access of information and communications technology (ICT) in local communities. However, Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) — the project implementing agency — only recently invited bids to select a supplier for procuring equipment. 

The project, initiated in 2011, is also being implemented in Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives. Performance of the project in Nepal is progressing at snail’s pace when compared to that in other countries because of ‘government procedural delay’ as per the concerned officials. According to SDF, Bhutan has completed construction of 46 CeCs against a total target of 50 centres. Maldives has started operation of two CeCs out of the target of 50. In Bangladesh, the project will establish 200 Union Information and Services Centres and 122 operators have already been trained. 

Still, MoIC is confident it will be able to meet the given deadline of December to finish the project. Sushil Ojha, acting secretary of MoIC said, “We are positive that the work of establishing the CeCs will be completed by the end of the year.” He further informed that the company winning the bid would be responsible for procuring all the required equipment along with installing, operating and testing them before handing over to the local communities selected to run the centres. 

Humla, Khotang, Ramechhap, Morang, Jhapa and Ilam are among the 52 districts that have been selected for the project. MoIC had selected the districts and CeC operating communities based on the study and recommendation of District Post Offices. The company to be awarded the contract will supply, deliver, and install equipment that include computers, servers, solar systems, printers, photocopy machines, ADSL or broadband routers, networking, digital cameras and furniture, as per MoIC. 

Such centres will be run by local communities themselves as CeC operators and the main target of the project is employment generation, creation of new economic activities using ICT and ensuring government services in rural areas. CeCs will provide services including photocopy, printing, e-mails and internet services to community people at a cheaper price. 

Meanwhile, the progress of South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Information Highway Project, which also aims to establish 30 CeCs in different parts of the country, is also lagging. The project had received $9 million from the Asian Development Bank. Its three main components include establishing fibre optic connection with three countries (Bhutan, Bangladesh and India), establishment of 30 CeCs and operation of a resource and training centre. - See more at: http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Progress+in+developing+CeCs+in+country+snail-paced&NewsID=411480#sthash.jV7zHjJF.dpuf