Kathmandu, July 6: Minister for Information and Communication Dr. Bikram Timilsina has said that the government has taken a policy to develop security printing center as a self-reliant, commercial and result-oriented institution.
Minister Dr. Timilsina said so while responding to queries of the lawmakers at the meeting of the National Assembly (NA) today.
He informed the meeting that a sum of Rs. 220 million has been allocated for the security printing center for the upcoming fiscal year of 2026/27.
Lawmaker Roshni Meche has in the session sought justification about the government allocating Rs. 150 million for mobile frequency monitoring van and 220 million for security printing center when students were unable to get books and copies even today easily.
Responding to the question, Minister Dr. Timilsina made it clear that not even a paisa collected from people as tax and allocated as budget would be misused and that he was involved in person in topic-wise budget discussion for the ministry.
He said the earmarked budget would be used for the set target and with fixed procedures and that the government was committed to ensuring frugality in expenses, transparency, accountability and good governance.
On the occasion, he urged not to compare between education materials and communication infrastructure as they were different domains and not mutually alternatives. Strengthening technological infrastructure for communication sector is also vital, he said.
He said that the security printing center has so far printed 2.4 million smart licenses and 3.5 postal stamps and supplied to the concerned authorities.
The budget allocated for the security printing center is for fulfilling duties fixed by laws and not for consumption, he said, preparations are underway to print excise duty stickers, citizenship and national identity card from the center from next year and there is need to enhance its production capacity.
The Minister defended investment in communication infrastructure saying it contributes to long-term increase in revenue, expansion of technological capacity and national security.
He said the mobile frequency monitoring van was being purchased as per recommendation from international telecommunication union that calls for all countries to establish permanent monitoring system of radio frequency.
The Minister added that the system would be useful for regulating and monitoring modern wireless services such as 4G and 5G mobile services, digital broadcast, improve quality of telecom service, control illegal equipment and increase revenue from fee for license and spectrum.
He said the government was earning annually a sum of Rs. 4 billion 150 million as revenue from frequency and spectrum management and this sector was contributing 1.5% to the GDP in an indirect way.
