Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota has said that the government would heartily welcome any recommendation on the purchasing process of a security printing press. Minister Baskota, who is also the government's spokesman, expressed the view at a time when the two parliamentary committees – Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under the House of Representatives and the Finance Committee under the National Assembly— showed their willingness to probe into the purchasing procedures of the security printing press. As the nation is in dire need of a sophisticated security printing facility, the government has initiated the process in this connection. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) had already received more than 1,000-page proposals from French and German companies. It may be recalled here that a cabinet meeting held on December 23, 2019 had entrusted the MoICT to select a right proposal received from France and Germany as per the Rule 85 (5b) of Public Procurement Act 2065 BS.

As sought by the House panels, the government would forward the entire proposals to them. In a weekly press meet organised at his office to make the Cabinet's decision public on Thursday, Minister Baskota said that the House panels would go through the documents and make suggestions to the government in regard with the purchase of the security printing press. The government wants the House committees to make their recommendations at the earliest possible so as to conclude purchasing process soon. Minister Baskota also called on the House panels to point out their suggestions clearly if they found any mistake or irregularity in the process. The recommendations to be made by the parliamentary committees would be helpful for the government to carry out the task of purchasing the security printing press as it was a matter of urgency and importance to the government from the data security and financial point of view.

The equipment would be used for printing passports, national identity cards, citizenship certificates, academic certificates, voter's identity cards, land ownership certificates, postal tickets, stickers of excise duties, SIM cards, recharge cards and driving licenses, among others. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now very limited copies of MRP passports ranging from 600,000 to 700,000 in stock. In such a situation, it is imperative for the government to complete the process of purchasing the security printing press as soon as possible. The Government of Nepal aims to intensify the process to procure the security printing press worth billions of rupees through government to government (G2G) deals. The government should ensure that a high quality security printing press is purchased at a reasonable price. This may be the main concern of the House panels as well. The government should not lag behind in purchasing the machine through global competitive bidding if it helps the nation in saving some money. The process should also be transparent so that no one can put up any question in this regard.