Kathmandu, February 14

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota has claimed that the government has prepared an IT bill aiming to regulate the digital market.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of CAN-InfoTech 2020, Minister Baskota said that the bill has not only mentioned regulating social networking sites but also comprises rules that will regulate and facilitate the IT industry of the country.

“The IT bill has been prepared to transform the country’s economy into a digital economy,” he said, adding, “Those who don’t want to promote digital economy are spreading wrong messages regarding the IT bill.”

He further accused the private sector for understanding the IT bill in a negative way and not supporting the government.

Minister Baskota, however, said that the provisions under the title ‘offence and punishment’ can be reduced. “We can amend the punishment section if necessary, but in the name of freedom of expression, nobody can play a game to stop digital regulation in the country,” he added.

Meanwhile, speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Navaraj Kunwar, president of CAN Federation, said that the federation is always ready to cooperate with the government for the betterment of the sector.

With a major objective of promoting start-up businesses CAN-InfoTech 2020 kicked off today at Bhrikutimandap and will continue till February 19. There are a total of 174 stalls in the event that include operating system software, networking solutions, mobile phones and solutions, electrical and electronics, security solutions, solar power system, inverter, UPS, laptops and desktop computers, printers, computer accessories, anti-virus software, banking solutions, CCTV, hard disks and others.

The organiser expects more than 400,000 visitors to observe the event this year against the footfall of around 376,000 last year.