The committee headed by Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Bharat Poudel has been mandated to make suggestions on how MRP applications can be collected from and delivered at administration offices in all 75 districts. [break]
The committee was formed after the need to decentralize MRP distribution system was felt. The high-tech passports will be available only at the MoFA, Kathmandu and Nepali missions abroad for the time being.
Earlier, before April 1, the traditional hand-written passports were available from district administration offices. But the administration offices were stripped of their authority after the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) asked the government to issue passports only from MoFA after April 1, the first deadline to introduce MRP.
As people have to travel all the way to Kathmandu from far-flung parts of the country to get passports, since April, getting passports have been not only been costly but also a matter of much hassle.
The committee has been assigned to prepare short-term, mid-term and long-term reports on the decentralization of MRP distribution. "We will give the short-term report within a week," said Poudel, adding that the short-term and long-term reports will be ready by one month.
The committee comprises representatives from the Office of the Prime Minister, Home Ministry, Law Ministry, Police Headquarters, Ministry of General Administration, Ministry of Information and Communications and the Department of Postal Service. In addition, the committee will also study measures to check possible frauds related to passports.
Secretaries from MoFA, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of General Administration, Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Information and Communications were present at the meeting convened by Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire.
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