By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec. 10: Press accreditation certificates of media persons working across the country and online news portal renewals will now be done from the post offices in the districts.
The government has delegated such authority to the district post office with the objective of making the service provided by the centre easier and simpler, informed Minister for Communication and Information Technology Parbat Gurung on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (through a ministerial decision) has made arrangements for the renewal of press representative certificates and online from the post offices and postal directorates in all 77 districts, according to Minister Gurung.
Speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Communication while making the Cabinet decisions public today, Minister Gurung said that the authority to renew the press representative certificates and online portal has been delegated to the concerned district post offices.
“The ministerial decision to renew press representative certificates from 77 district post offices and post directorates has ended the situation in which journalists have to bear a huge financial burden and face other inconveniences to obtain or renews them," Minister Gurung said.
Along with the arrangement, necessary documents should be submitted to the concerned district post offices for getting new cards and their renewal.
The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) had also been drawing the attention of the government to make arrangements for the renewal of press representative identity cards from the concerned districts.
The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has welcomed the government's decision to renew the press pass and online from the respective districts.
The department has issued 678 new press representative certificates and identity cards in the first four months of the current fiscal year.
During the same period, 1,220 certificates were renewed. Similarly, four independent press passes, five foreign journalists' press passes and 45 chairman / publisher identity cards have been issued.
According to the department, 160 new online registrations and 151 online renewals were made in the same period. Similarly, 13 magazines have been recommended for permanent registration and 59 magazines have been recommended for temporary registration.