Kathmandu, July 13

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada said the CIT Ministry ought to start digitisation first, by utilising the advancement of information technology. As the government has adopted a digital framework, we should become paperless in our activities henceforth, he added.

In his comments after visiting the Press Council Nepal Office here today, he said the entire media sector needed to be aware of new media activities that have been hurting people’s pride, socio-political life and relations between countries. It is the duty of the council to take action against such media, and complaints registered needed to be addressed.

The CIT minister also sought suggestions over the proposed media law. However, freedom should also include accountability, he said.

On the occasion, acting Chair of Press Council, Kishore Shrestha, briefed the minister about the poor state of registration of media, especially news portals, as many get registered only for legal protection. The council has been monitoring and also taking complaints.

Chief Administrative Officer Jhabindra Bhusal said that the council had sought clarification from 197 news portals while 104 were blocked from disseminating information in the country during the four months of COVID-19 pandemic.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 14, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.