Kathmandu. An agreement has been reached between the District Post Office Humla and the District Administration Office, Humla to deliver government documents to the doorstep of the people. The agreement has been signed as part of the government’s campaign to develop the postal service as a ‘government courier service’. Currently, the government courier service has reached all 77 districts.

The first decision of the Council of Ministers had aimed to develop the postal office as a service to transport government materials and documents. The Department of Postal Services has started delivering passport, driving license, educational certificates and other services to the doorsteps of the citizens.

The Department of Postal Services has transported 251,501 passports to the District Administration Offices of all 77 districts as of August 17, 2008.

Of them, 8,712 passports were delivered to the doorsteps of the service seekers. Similarly, 1 million 38 thousand 808 driving licenses received from the Department of Transport Management have been sent to the Transport Management Office in all seven provinces through postal service.

Among them, 1,099 licenses have been delivered to the doorsteps of the service seekers, the Department stated. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development and the Postal Directorate of Surkhet for the convenience of driving licenses.

According to the department, final preparations are underway to expand the service in the far-western state as well. Nepal Open University (OU) and Department of Postal Services signed an agreement on June 8 to deliver educational certificates at the doorstep of the government.

Discussions are underway with Tribhuvan University to sign a similar agreement. The use of postal services has also expanded in the health sector. As per the agreement with the National Public Health Laboratory, 1,510 samples from 17 laboratories have been supplied to the country.

According to the agreement with the Health, Education and Information Center, 44,184 units of medical supplies have been transported through post. As per the agreement with the Health Insurance Board, 142 sacks of medical supplies were transported.

Apart from SIM cards, other goods of Nepal Telecom are also being transported through postal service. An agreement has been reached between the Department of Land Management and Archives and the Department of Postal Services on July 8 for the transportation and distribution of land ownership certificates, government documents and other materials.

According to the Department, efforts are underway to develop the postal service as a reliable public service system to deliver government services and documents to the doorsteps of the citizens without limiting it to the traditional means of exchanging letters. In order to make the service more effective, efficient and less expensive, the postal route was reviewed and approved on June 14.

Likewise, the postal signal system has been upgraded to an internal surveillance system by making it a seven-digit system. In order to facilitate the operation of foreign postal services, arrangements have been made to open the services of the Foreign Postal Customs Office and the Rastriya Banijya Bank in coordination with the Department of Postal Services.

KATHMANDU: Rapid checking service has been put in place to make the transportation of foreign postal goods from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) more efficient. In order to facilitate the air transportation of postal materials, agreements and complementary agreements have been signed with various airlines including Yeti Airlines. According to the Department, it has been decided to amend the agreement reached between Nepal Airlines and the Department of Postal Services after holding discussion on the issue of payment for international mail transportation with Nepal Airlines.

The first phase of updating the details of letters and parcel details as per the directive of the International Postal Association 2025 has been completed while the work of the second phase has been started.

The Ministry of Information and Communications, the Department of Information Technology, the Central Post Office, the Department of Passport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have held discussions on upgrading the internal surveillance system of the post office to directly connect it with the Department of Passport. A campaign has been forwarded to gradually transform the post offices across the country into ‘smart post offices’ as per the government’s policy and programme.

For this, 50 post offices have been selected to be developed into modern post offices based on information technology, by approving the necessary criteria. Likewise, preliminary discussion has been held with the Department of Health Services for the supply of medical supplies and necessary process has been initiated. A total of 34.74 lakh postage stamps have been printed in collaboration with the Security Printing Center to increase non-tax revenue and facilitate service delivery.

According to the Department, the design for printing additional postage stamps has been approved and necessary process has been initiated. Coordination has been expanded with the federal, state and local levels to increase the use of postal services. Interaction and public awareness programs are being conducted on rapid post, parcel and mail services.

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