"This is high time we took this issue seriously and found ways to unshackle NT so that it can compete well in the market,” he said adding that complex government procedures for essential procurements is the main problem bogging down NT. [break]
He was speaking before the Parliament´s Development Committee on Wednesday, where he and MoIC Secretary Shreedhar Gautam were summoned to review annual and ongoing projects.
The latest statistics shows that NT´s market share has come down to 49 percent against over 57 percent about a year ago.
Minister Gupta complained that ICT sector is not getting enough budget despite its huge contribution to the nation´s GDP. Although the ministry is planning to establish tele-centres in nearly all 4,000 VDCs, the budget has been allocated for only 40 tele-centres. “MoIC contributes significant amount of revenue to the government but the ministry is not able to use the budget for its development plans,” he added.
Quoting senior officials of public broadcaster Radio Nepal, Minister Gupta said that the broadcaster is likely to shut down operations within a year because of financial crisis unless the Ministry of Finance allocates additional budget. At present, Radio Nepal is incurring a loss of Rs 40 million annually. Senior officials at Radio Nepal met the minister on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, after failing to get salary for last two months, Radio Nepal employees submitted a memorandum to MoIC and the Development Committee asking for assistance. “There is no immediate income-generating source and financial situation of the oldest broadcaster is getting worse by the day,” he said.
Secretary of MoIC Shreedhar Gautam said he has written to MoF a few months back seeking assistance for Radio Nepal but has not heard from the ministry.
PM to be summoned
Upset with the decision of the Cabinet to dissolve High Level Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT), Parliament´s Development Committee is preparing to summon Prime Minister Baburam Bhhattarai on Monday.
The Cabinet decided to dissolve HLCIT following a proposal from the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC). The Development Committee had asked the Cabinet to suspend the decision for sometime saying that there is not enough reason to dissolve the commission. PM Bhattarai was chairman of HLCIT.
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