Home Delivery of Passports Begins on Trial Basis in Selected Districts

Kathmandu. Following the government’s announcement to bring public services to citizens’ doorsteps, home delivery of passports has begun on a trial basis in selected districts. The service is currently being operated  in parts of Siraha, Dadeldhura, Makwanpur, and Myagdi through the Department of Postal Services.

According to Department Director General Manmaya Bhattarai Pangeni, the passport delivery system is being implemented in coordination with the District Administration Offices based on the needs of service recipients. “In many districts, efforts are underway to deliver passports to every household. The service has already been running in Siraha for a few days, while in Dadeldhura, it began on Wednesday. Preparations are also underway in Sankhuwasabha,” she said.

She added that the initiative is aimed at making passport services  more accessible and convenient, particularly for people living in remote areas.

Point 27 of the 100-point agenda made public after the Cabinet meeting held on March 27 states that government documents will be delivered to citizens at home. The agenda says, “To provide government services at home, the postal service will be modernized and developed as a ‘Government Courier Service’, through which passports, citizenship copies, licenses, and other government documents will be delivered to the doorstep within 100 days.” As per the plan, the process of delivering passports to households has already begun.

To make the service more effective, applicants will now be able to choose a  convenient delivery location  while filling out the passport application form. 

Director General Pangeni said, “We have started making arrangements so that applicants can indicate their preferred delivery locations while filling out the passport form. Once the passport is issued, it will be delivered according to the service user’s choice.”

For those who had already completed the application process before the new system was introduced, District Administration Offices have been contacting applicants directly and arranging home delivery.

Technical challenges in direct delivery from Kathmandu

Currently, passports printed by the Passport Department are being sent to districts via postal service. The Department delivers passports directly to three districts, while in 10 remote districts, they are transported via air service, and to other districts, they are sent through the postal service. Once they arrive in the districts, the postal service distributes them to the respective addresses.

However, technical challenges have delayed the process of delivering passports directly from Kathmandu to the applicants’ homes. According to Puja Belbase, Director of the Passport Department, the distribution system varies depending on whether applications are processed through the department or district offices.

“We need to integrate the system with the postal service. We must provide them with pickup points and digitize the delivery addresses,” said Director Belbase. “Because of this, we have not been able to immediately start direct home delivery of passports from the department.” 

She added that preparations are underway to make the system operational within the 100-day timeline set in the government’s plan.

The Director General of the Postal Service Department, Pangeni, said that a study team has also been formed to identify existing gaps in enabling direct delivery of documents from Kathmandu. She expressed confidence that once  necessary system upgrades and software integration in the revenue portal are completed, passports will be delivered directly to citizens’ homes across the country from Kathmandu.

पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: बैशाख ४, २०८३ २०:१०

टिप्पणीहरू