Kathmandu – The term of the press representative certificate issued by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Department of Information and Broadcasting will now be three years.
Previously, when the period of this certificate was one year, journalists outside the capital were facing problems. The spokesperson of the department, Bharat Gautam informed that the press representative certificate issued by the department will be maintained for a period of one year and will be renewed every year. He informed that in the case of temporary certificates, the previous arrangement will continue.
The Minister of Communication and Information Technology Rekha Sharma showed interest in the matter after a journalist complained that the old identity card was canceled if the department did not renew it within one year, even though the validity of the certificate is three years. “We were interested in the department especially after receiving this complaint from journalist friends outside the capital, the press representative certificate period has been extended after the department took an immediate initiative and made a new decision”, said Narendra KC, a communication expert of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology.
According to him, in the Printing and Publishing Regulations, 1910 of 2049, it is mentioned that the period of the certificate will be three years, but in practice, there is a practice of renewing it in one year, so the department has come to the decision to improve it and make it three financial years according to the regulations.
Similarly, he informed that since there were complaints about obtaining and renewing identity cards of independent journalists, efforts have been started to improve this too. “Agraj, who has been in journalism for a long time, has been complaining that it has become difficult to get and renew an independent journalist’s identity card”, KC said, “What can be done to facilitate this is being discussed, and the department is also doing homework on this.”
Similarly, the department has arranged to get FM radio license and license copy online. Gautam, the spokesperson of the department, informed that after submitting the application by entering from the ‘other’ section of the department’s website, after the decision, the department will send the copy to the relevant district post office of the applicant.
