Kathmandu

Push to improve public service

Push to improve public service

By Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, November 24:

In a attempt to make people feel a sense of change, the government is all set to launch a package programme to make the public service delivery effective.

A meeting of government secretaries discussed the proposed programme today.

The programme includes government’s strategies to combat corruption and irregularities and setting up new mechanisms to provide service at people’s doorsteps.

The secretaries discussed two main agendas — policy paper for corruption control and directives on public service delivery. During the discussion, the secretaries put forth their suggestions on the agendas, one of the participating secretary said.

“The agendas will be tabled at the cabinet meeting within a few days after incorporating the secretaries’ suggestions,” he said after the meeting.

The government is planning to set up ‘Service Centres’ in nine areas of each district. “The centres will provide basic services such as providing citizenship certificates and passports, health, agriculture, drinking water and veterinary services,” the secretary added.

The proposed directives also include taking decisions on time, shunning red-tapism, carrying out financial transactions of a certain amount only through concerned consumer committees and setting up mechanisms — from local to central level — for effective service delivery.

“There will be a strong mechanism of reporting the line agencies from local to central level about the improvement in service delivery,” the secretary said. The government is also planning to arrange mobile service delivery camps for remote areas. “Mobile teams will be frequently deployed to the remote areas to provide seeds to farmers, issuing citizenship certificates and organising health camps, as mentioned in the government’s plan,” the secretary added. He also said that some issues such as drawing a demarcation between the role of VDCs and the proposed service centres were under discussion.

The secretaries will also meet tomorrow to discuss the policy paper for corruption control, which specifies the government’s strategy, vision and mission.