Kathmandu, November 12

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City is preparing to launch electronic services with the objective of making its services faster by end of this week.

Although electronic service is yet to be started for the general public, KMC has been paperless within its office for the last few months.

According to Spokesperson of KMC Gyanendra Karki, KMC staff members now conduct all internal activities electronically. “We have been monitoring all 35 wards, obtaining recent updates on revenue collection, and conducting other administrative activities electronically,” Karki told The Himalayan Times, Karki said that one KMC staff member from each ward has been receiving training to switch to electronic media, but the KMC was still unsure about whether they were ready to carry out their services for the public electronically. “There are still many people who request KMC staff members to write a formal letter for their work,” Karki added.

According to the KMC, although it planned to go paperless from July 16 this year, the plans were delayed because of management problems. Ram Sapkota, chief at Information Technology Section, said the KMC is preparing to run electronic services in 31 wards as part of a preliminary test, which will be expanded to all the wards after a month.

The KMC said its primary aim for introducing e-governance was to provide services at the public’s doorsteps and that the total cost of switching to electronic media has been funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, will hover around Rs 40 million.

Service seekers can now avail of a plethora of services including property map approval, revenue submission and information on due payments by surfing the internet.