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Public Service Broadcasting: A Best Practices SOURCEBOOK


Code of Conduct for Radio Operators Nepal 2008 रेडियो संचालकहरूका लागि आचार संहिता २००८


A Sleeping Bag for
Mr. Fox

A Collection of Flash Fictions
Author: Vinaya Kasajoo
Publisher: Bibek Sirjanshil Publication, Nepal
Price NRs. 75.00

बालसंसार Children's World
Media & Literature for Children»

बाल भित्तेपत्रिका तालिम निर्देशिका

 

 

 



डाउनलोड गर्नुस्

उच्चस्तरीय मिडिया सुझाव आयोगको प्रतिवेदन २०६३
हेर्न र डाउलोड गर्न यहाँ क्लिक गर्नुस्

 

 
मिडियाको लोकतन्त्रीकरण
Democratization of Media
लोकतान्त्रिक नेपालमा जनतको हातमा संचार अधिकार कस्तो र कसरी विषयमा देशव्यापी छलफल चलाउनका लागि पुस्तक ।
यहाँ क्लिक गरेर यो पूरै पुस्तक डाउनलोड गर्न सक्नुहुन्छ । ४८ पृष्ठको यो पुस्तक पच्चिस रुपैयाँमा बजारमा किन्न पाइन्छ ।

जनसंचार र प्रजातन्त्रीकरण नेपालको सन्दर्भमा एक अध्ययन
सर्वांगीण विकास अध्ययन केन्द्रले २०५३ सालमा प्रकाशित गरेको अध्ययन प्रतिवेदनको परिशिष्टमा दिइएको

नेपालमा जनसंचारको विकासक्रमः संक्षिप्त इतिहास PDF मा जंगबहादुरको गिद्धेप्रेसदेखि गाउँले पत्रिका देउरालीसम्मको कालक्रम थाहा पाउन यहाँ क्लिक गर्नुस् ।

सामुदायिक रेडियो हाते किताब (निर्देशिका)
युनेस्कोद्वारा प्रकाशित तथा विनय कसजूद्वारा अनुदित यो सचित्र पुस्तकको चित्रबिनाको पाठ्य सामग्रीमात्र हेर्न र डाउनलोड गर्न यहाँ क्लिक गर्नुस् ।

द नेट फर जर्नलिस्ट पत्रकारहरूका लागि इन्टरनेटको उपयोग गर्न सिकाउने यो पुस्तकले आफूलाई चाहिने जानकारी, सूचना कहाँबाट र कसरी पाउने भन्ने मात्रै सिकाउँदैन, त्यसरी पाएको सूचनालाई कसरी मूल्यांकन गर्ने र आधिकारिकता पत्ता लगाउने भन्ने पनि सिकाउँछ । यसमा पत्रकार आफैले ब्लग, इन्टरनेट फोन, पोडकास्टिङ (इन्टरनेटबाट रेडियो प्रसारण) आदि संचालन गर्न पनि सिकाइएको छ । यो किताब किन्दा सँगै एउटा तालिम निर्देशिका र सफ्टवेयरसहितको सीडी पनि पाइन्छ ।

विकासशील देशका छापा र प्रसारण पत्रकारहरू तथा पत्रकारिताका विद्यार्थीहरूका लागि लक्षित गरी युनेस्कोले थम्सन फाउण्डेसन र कमलवेल्थ ब्रोडकास्टिङ एसोसिएसनसँग मिलेर तयार पारेको यो पुस्तक आफ्नो कम्प्युटरमा डाउनलोड गर्न यहाँ क्लिक गर्नुस यसको लागि पैसा लाग्दैन । यसको साइज 2.09 MB छ । यो किताबमा भएका सामग्रीहरू उपयोग गर्नका लागि प्रकाशकको अनुमति लिनुपर्छ ।


हाउ टु डु कम्युनिटी रेडियो

फिलिपिन्समा सामुदयिक रेडियोका अगुवा लुइ ताबिङद्वारा लिखित तथा युनेस्कोद्वारा प्रकाशित सामुदायिक रेडियो चलाउनका लागि आधारभूत पुस्तक । यो पुस्तकमा भएका सामग्री उपयोग गर्दा लेखक र प्रकाशकको अनुमति लिनुहोला । यहाँ क्लिक गरेर पुस्तक डाउनलोड गर्नसकिन्छ ।
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कम्युनिटी रेडियो द पिपुल्स भ्वाइस
सामुदायिक रेडियोको क्षेत्रमा गहकिलो अनुभव बटुलेको देश दक्षिण अफ्रिकाको अनुभवमा आधारित तथा दक्षिण अफ्रिकाका ६ जना लेखकले लेखेको यो पुस्तक सामुदायिक रेडियो स्थापना र संचालन गर्न खोज्नेहरूका लागि निक्कै उपयोगी छ । लेखक र प्रकाशकको लिखित अनुमित नलिई पुस्तकको कुनै पनि अंशको पुनः उपयोग गर्न सकिन्न । तर नाफा कमाउने उद्देश्य नराखी पुस्तकका केही अंश उपयोग गर्न सकिन्छ । यहाँ क्लिक गरेर पुस्तक डाउनलोड गर्न सकिन्छ । ।
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सामुदायिक रेडियोको विश्वभरि परेको सामाजिक प्रभावको एमार्कले गरेको अध्ययन र मूल्यांकन हेर्नुहोस् ।

Recent Books of
Vinaya Kasajoo


Baal Katha Lekhan
(How to Write Kids' Stories)
Visit www.balsansar.com


Baghko Satkar
(Stories for Children in Nepali Language)
 

Click here to Download PDF

Musa lai Dosalla
ra Aru Bal Kathaharu
(In Honour of a Rat and Other Stories for Children)

 
Rights & Responsibilities of Journalists
A Handbook Produced by Centre for Media Rights (CMR), Nepal with the support of Nepal Media and Demoractic Strengthening Project/IMPACS
 
A presentation of Dreams & Ideas : Service Provider of Web, Print & Multimedia
 

IT for Development

Where are we in the Global Map of IT?

- Vinaya Kasajoo

The main vision of the Nepalese IT Policy 2000 is to “Place Nepal on the Global Map of information technology within the next five year.” Where are we in that map after losing three precious years?

Internet obsession

Nepalese media, both print and electronic covered as the first news the inauguration of the first interactive religious website by the queen on May 19 this year. It was the first time that a royal dignitary such as the queen had inaugurated a website. (www.shripashupatinath.org)

Two more websites also were launched on the same day, which were also covered by the media. Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation inaugurated a website of his ministry (www.tourism.gov.np) while Miss Nepal launched the website of World Wildlife Fund Nepal. (www.wwfnepal.org.np)

Dozens of websites are launched every week, but most of them remain unnoticed not only by the media but also by the people for whom they are made. Even the royal palace launched its website www.nepalmonarchy.gov.np , last July. Almost all the ministries of the government have their websites. With the support of UNDP and other development organizations some of the municipalities, village committees and nongovernmental organizations also have created their websites.

Attraction and enthusiasm to adopt new information technology is increasing continuously and it seems that people have found a panacea in the form of Internet.

Asian Map

Taiwan and Hong Kong, China have become the two of the top three mobile economies worldwide, crossing 100 percent teledensity, and while in Nepal and Bangladesh there are around 15 and 6 telephone lines, respectively for 1000 people in each country, the lowest in the world. Asia Pacific, the home of over half of the world's population, is the most diverse region in the world with verities of cultures, languages, religion and people. But the diversity is most distinct in the digital divide among the countries of this continent.

According to ITU's report "Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators 2002" the region emerged as the world's largest telecommunication market in 2001. It is today home to over one-third of the world's telephone subscribers. In the last 10 years there have been immense and dramatic changes in telecommunications scenario, particularly the mobile phone, in this continent. Even the least developed country like Cambodia has eight times more mobile phones than fixed-lines.

The report says that the Internet in Asia-Pacific has grown steadily. The region had some 160 million users at the end of 2001, accounting for one-third of the world total, and more than any other region. The region has more users of high-speed mobile Internet than the rest of the world put together.

Disparity among the Asian countries is not only the consequence of the physical diversity and inequality between the countries but also the result of centuries of western colonization. There is competition and also rivalry among the nations. They communicate among them in the language and manner of their colonizers, which is quite alien to the people of these countries. It causes misunderstanding and erodes self-confidence and self-respect; make them blind-followers as well.

Recent regional meetings, workshops and seminars have expressed quite strongly the need for regional cooperation and united action among the Asian countries to create vibrant Asian economy, culture and society with the help of new information and communication technologies.

Nepalese Map

Nepal is a small country of about 26 million people and an area of 147,181 square kilometer sandwiched between world's two most population giants, China and India. It is a land of different kinds of diversities because of its unique geographical and geo-political situation. With a vertical span of 200 kilometers, north south, the altitude of the land ranges from 70 meters above sea level to the highest point on earth, Mount Everest (8500 meters). 17 % of its land is covered by Snow-clad Mountains while 64% land lies in mountain and hill area. Only 19 percent land is in the plain and fertile area, Terai, where 46% of the rural population lives. 85% of the total population lives in the rural area while only 15% live in urban areas.

While the country is stretched from east to west all the rivers originate from the snow clad Himalayan mountain range in the north and flow southward making it difficult for the people to move east west, thus creating hundreds of small states, principalities and isolated, linguistic, ethnic and indigenous groups of people.

Because of the long autocratic rule for centuries the country remained isolated from rest of the world till 1951, when a multi party democratic system was introduced that continued for a short period of ten years. Then the king introduced absolute monarchy, which continued for 30 years. A popular democratic movement ended the autocratic monarchy and established multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy in 1990. In October 2002, the king dismissed the elected prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. The country is now governed by the king and his appointed cabinet. However, after seven months of cease fire and, third round of talk between the government and the Maoists, the Maoist unilaterally declared the end of cease fire in September 2003. Situation of a kind of civil war and at the same time the political movement of constitutional parties to reinstall the parliament has created political limbo in the country and future of democracy seems uncertain.

Communication Map

Padam Maya Gurung, 34, who was undergoing jail sentence in a murder case in a prison situated in a hilly district, Tehrathum, suffered imprisonment for extra six year because it took six years to deliver the court order to the prison authority. She has filed petition in the Dhankuta Appeal Court demanding compensation for excess incarceration of six years, more than the court verdict. The Supreme Court, based in Kathmandu had given verdict to release her in 1996 after the term of penalty. But she was released from the jail only in May 2002, because it took six years to deliver the letter to this effect in the Tehrathum District Court. - Gorkhapatra Daily, November 13, 2002.

Postal service, which was started about two hundred years before and still carried by men on foot, is the most common and dependable form of communication for the rural people and the government offices at large.

Development of mass communication in Nepal, which started to take initial shape only after 1951, was interrupted for 30 years, during autocratic Panchayat system. Although mass communication is the only sector, which can claim to have developed most during the last 12 years of democracy, it is highly concentrated to a few urban centers, particularly in the Kathmandu.

Because of its urban based, too politicized and elitist, highly polarized and sensational characters and low circulation the mass media in Nepal has not been able to play an effective role in articulating the problems, reflecting the voice of the majority of the people, living particularly in rural areas, or safeguarding the citizens' rights and, in effect, strengthening democracy and enhancing development.

There is vast imbalance of facilities between the capital and the rest of the country in the information and communication sector. Out of 26 million people only 2 million people live in the Kathmandu valley. But about half of the newspapers are published from Kathmandu. All five TV stations are based here. Out of 25 FM stations 10 radio stations are in Kathmandu. According to the statistics of 2000 the national access to electricity, radio sets, TV sets and telephone line for households is 24.6%, 49.7%, 13.9% and 3.4% respectively. However the urban figure is 79.8%, 71%, 55.4% and 20.6% respectively and in rural area it is 16.5%, 46.6%, 7.8% and 0.9% respectively.

Adverse geographical terrene; diverse culture, language and ethnic composition; lack of transportation; inadequate telecommunication infrastructure; political isolation and centuries-long feudal/autocratic administrative system, mass illiteracy (around 60%) and the internal violence during last eight years, which has caused more than 8000 death and destruction of basic infrastructures, such as water, electricity and telecommunication, have badly effected the communication of Nepal.


IT capacity map

The number of telephone lines, fixed and mobile, has reached around 400,000 in Nepal. Most significantly more than 68% of the telephone lines (including mobile phones) are distributed in the Kathmandu valley. While the national teledensity is around 1.5%, it is 23% in Kathmandu and 0.14% in the rest of the country. 60% of the villages have no access to telephone.

Out of the total capacity of 70 thousand mobile phones, which started only two years back, around 34 thousand mobile phones were distributed in the valley while only 3 thousand were distributed outside the valley, till last June. There are about 30,000 Internet account holders/customers in the country and it is estimated that about 200,000 people use email and Internet. Out of 18 Internet Service Providers (ISP) 15 are providing service. However, all of them are based in Kathmandu. Very few of them are providing service in some urban centers outside the valley.

Although the government has announced policy to involve private sector in the telecommunication service, no significant change has been seen. Government has not allowed private sector to operate full-fledge telecommunication services.

Use of IT at present

Nepalese used the Internet, for the first time, as a credible and easy source of information during the dreadful royal massacre on June 1, 2001 to get the news which they could not get from mainstream media. That was the first time when people outside Nepal browsed the Nepalese website to its utmost capacity.

There are lots of inconsistencies and contradictions in the development of this country. People of hill and mountain areas of Nepal used aero plane and helicopter before they saw vehicles. Similarly the people who had never read newspaper or listened to radio are enjoying satellite television with the help of solar energy. This leapfrog development can be experienced in the Information Technology (IT) sector too. Those people who had barely made a telephone call or seen a computer in their life are now benefiting from Internet.

It seems that the people have suddenly found a miraculous pot in the form of Internet to fulfill their all kinds of wishes. Students, researchers and intellectuals have found that there is no better alternative to IT for increasing the dimensions of the knowledge. The human right activists, development workers and social advocate have been using it for increasing their supporters and raising funds. Businessmen have realized that they can increase their profit through IT. Professionals have been benefiting from wide rang of contact. Even the farmers and craftsmen, who live in rural areas, have got opportunity to sell their product in international market. Local products are getting global market. Political leaders, decision makers and bureaucrats have realized that IT is the most effective tool to empower the people, deliver services, promote good governance and strengthen democracy.

Despite the adverse situation and poor telecommunication status of the country there is great enthusiasm among the youths and IT professionals who have volunteered for the development of IT in the country from the beginning. As a result, Nepal is gradually heading towards a state where IT is no more a luxury, but a necessity. Development agencies and civil societies are already utilizing it and the policy-makers, bureaucrats and politicians are realizing that poorer the nation, the higher the importance of IT. It is capable to deliver development to the rural poor of a country like Nepal.

Areas of use of the Internet are increasing every day. INGOs and NGOs are in the forefront to benefit from the Internet. Use of ICT has increased in many sectors including government, civil societies and economic sector within a short period. Other sectors such as health, education, business, tourism, governance and mass communication are also using Internet. It has increased the efficiency and capacity of the organizations and benefited the people in various ways.

Media and online journalism: Dialogue within and among the people, the communities and different institutions, which is so important for strengthening democracy, enhancing development and empowering people, is increasing rapidly with the increase of communication tools such as telephone, fax, FM radio, email, and Internet. Nepalese mass media is using IT in various ways for accessing and increasing the sources of information speed up the flow of information and getting feed back. Online journalism has made it quite easy for people abroad to get online news about Nepal and vice versa. The overall meaning of journalism is changing since anybody with a computer and a telephone line can be a journalist and produce his/her own media or broadcast voice and video through Internet.

Democracy and governance: For a strong democracy there should be constant and vibrant interaction between the government and civil society, between the administration and the common people. Internet provides opportunity for two way dialogue between the state and the citizens. It affects the decisions of the peoples' elected representatives and policy makers; make the local and central governments, and public organizations accountable, transparent, and more sensible, and reduces corruption. It also makes the service delivery by the government and other organizations more effective and responsible.

All the government ministries, departments, corporations and district offices are going to have their own websites and their databases are going to be linked by national network within five years. Other organs of the state, such as Judiciary, Parliament, Election Commission, Human Rights Commission, Bureau of Statistics etc have their websites and databases in the computer. Any body can send email to the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority against corruption by public servants or the peoples' representative. (See www.akhtiyar.org.np)

There are many websites dealing with the human rights situation of the country which give updated information on violation of human rights to the human right activists around the world. (See: www.insec.org.np, www.cvict.org.np, www.cehurdes.org.np, www.cwin-nepal.org)

Internet facility for the MPs: Free Internet and telephone facilities were provided to the members of the parliament with the objectives of popularizing new information technology and increase the dimensions of knowledge. Since the majority of constituencies did not have telephone and Internet connection it was unthinkable that the MPs would use Internet as a tool to interact with their voters and get their consensus on any bill tabled in the parliament. But interaction between the MPs and their voters was successful to some extent through the radio program "Phone in with the Parliamentarians" for making the peoples' representatives realize their responsibilities and empowering the voters.

Telecenters in rural areas: A pilot project to install 15 rural telecenters in 15 different VDCs in 9 Districts is already under way, under the joint management of Ministry Of Science and Technology and National Information Technology Centre and the UNDP-funded ICTs for Development programme. Each telecenter will provide telephony and Internet access, plus specialised local content which is being developed for the purpose. The aim of the project is to establish 1500 such sponsored telecenters within next five years.

District Information and Documentation Centres: The UNDP-funded Local Governance Programme is setting up 30 District Information and Documentation Centres (DIDC), each with a networked computer. These will be linked to the Ministry of Local Government. The project is closely linked with the new development approach of social mobilisation to form Community Based Organisations. The DIDCs will be both a resource and an outlet for the CBOs, providing a channel whereby they can express their needs. A different UNDP-funded programme, PDDP (Participatory District Development Programme), is providing similar facilities to a similar number of other Districts.

A current proposal, awaiting approval, is for Japanese support for NTC to install pilot multipurpose community telecenters (MCT) in 10 VDCs in the Kathmandu Valley, each 2-3 hours’ drive from Kathmandu and with population over 4,000. The purpose is to develop a sustainable model for MCTs, trying out different approaches to charging and comparing MCTs with simple public call offices. Each MCT will have 2 phones, 1 computer with modem, a fax machine, printer and uninterruptible power supply.

Nepal is also using geographical information system (GIS) in 66 districts to assist planning in various sectors. It has also started using global positioning system (GPS). Internet is also used for environmental conservation initiatives within and outside the country.

A District Treasury Control project has linked computers in 64 Districts and major municipalities to central government. This has made cash management faster and more transparent.

Education: Educational institutions are using IT increasingly, and an initiative to start distance learning has begun recently. Some of the books and documents, including text books, in Nepalese language are available in Internet. People are using e-libraries. Students browse websites to seek appropriate college, syllabus, scholarships and jobs. Thousands of students and their guardians outside the capital have started browsing the result of school and college examinations in the Internet, which was not possible to see before three years.

Health: The HealthNet provides online access for doctors and nurses to international health databases and Nepalese health information. A Local Area Network connects more than 70 terminals on and near the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital campus, providing direct access for on-site staff. Distant doctors can access HealthNet using a secure dial-up method. HealthNet provides week-long training for doctors who are not yet familiar with computers, the Internet and search methods. People can donate blood and request for blood donation through website, www.bloodmembers.com . Telemedicine has a vast scope and utility in Nepal.

Commerce: e-commerce has begun in Nepal but it has not been able to develop as in other countries because of the lack of cyber laws, which is in the offing now. Tourism industry is using internet to expand its business around the world. Some websites are helping to demonstrate handicrafts of the rural craftsmen, thus helping them to sell their product in international market. Because of the lack of laws regarding electronic transaction the development of e-commerce and export of software has been hindered for long time.

Agriculture: There are websites which provide information about agricultural products and the market price of different town of the country. AgriPriceNepal.com is a pioneer Nepali website on agricultural market information for Nepal, jointly hosted by the Rural-Urban Partnership Programme, the Agro Enterprise Centre and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Subscribers can get latest price and source information for more than 150 agricultural commodities in 18 major markets of Nepal.

Telework: IT based business such as call centers, cyber cafes, medical transcription, digitization of maps and documents; software production etc. has begun since last five years. Consequently considerable numbers of youths are attracted to get training and join the IT based professions.

Art and Literature: There are some websites, such as www.spinybabbler.org, www.aarohantheatre.org, www.mpp.org.np, www.thopathopa.com, www.kasajoo.com, www.cybernepal.com.np, which provide art and literary materials and news on literary activities. Some of them are in Nepali and other national languages. There are Nepali literary magazines originating from Nepal and abroad in Nepali language.

Culture, Tradition and Religion: With the help of some websites Nepalese living abroad can perform religious, cultural and traditional rites, rituals and ceremonies.

Development Organizations: International donor community has been using Internet for long time in Nepal. They have also supported national and regional non-governmental organizations to establish their own websites. Although these websites are not used so much within the country due to the language and technological constraints they have been quite useful as a tool of advocacy for social change in Nepal and raise fund for projects that helps to uplift the life of the people. It has been very easy for the international development organizations based outside Nepal to understand the reality of the country; evaluate the seriousness of problems; realize the need of the grassroots people and identify the areas which need intervention and decide the plan and project to address the problem. It has also helped them to monitor and evaluate the project. Similarly people from any part of the world can support the vulnerable communities.

Challenges

Internet fidelity is increasing in Nepal and the number of network and websites is increasing considerably. However, it seems that the target audience of most of the websites and their promoters is not within the country. They are meant for international visitors, who can communicate in English language. For example Nepal's most used online news www.nepalnews.com is visited by around 40 thousand people daily all over the world. Out of the total visitors only 15 percent visitors are from Nepal, according to its editor. The present telecommunication infrastructure and the other facilities necessary for using Internet are quite limited. It is estimated that less than 1% of the population use email and Internet while the total number of Internet account holders is around 30,000 (less than 0.14%).

Language is another great barrier for accessing and using computer for majority of the Nepalese. English was and still is one of the official languages in the South Asian countries, which were under western colony. But, Nepal is the only country in South Asia which was not under any western colony. It was isolated for centuries. Consequently very few Nepalese can communicate in English, which is the dominating language in the Internet. Until the software that runs computer programmes, are made in Nepali language using Nepali font it is impossible for more than 90% Nepalese to operate computer and browse Internet themselves.

The following statement by Dr. Michael L. Dertouzon, engineer, inventor, theoretician and director of the Laboratory for Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who had predicted the many ways the information revolution would affect human lives, may help to understand the ground reality about the use of IT in Nepal:

'I learned it from Nepal'

"Bill sees this expanding world of network as an opportunity for poor people to sell their wares, get educated participate in the world marketplace and pull themselves up from poverty. I see the exact same thing with a time scale of 15 years – and only, if we help.

"I learnt it from Nepal. A while ago, I had this naïve assumption that I could go to Nepal, obtain computers and training for the Nepalese and get them to have a 20 percent jolt in the G.N.P. But here is what I found out: Only 30 percent of the Nepalese are literate. Of that 30 percent only 10 percent speak English. Even if I got someone to provide every one of them with a computer with communications, what could they do with them? They have no skills to sell.

"To get people to do this, I would have to educate them, and people don't get educated overnight.

"So, 15 years. From this and other experiences, I've concluded that the information revolution, if left to its own devices, will mean that the rich are going to buy more computers, be more productive and become richer, and the poor will not be able to do that and will stand still. History teaches us that whenever the gap between rich and poor increases, we have all kinds of troubles.

(Source: Claudia Dreifus, The Kathmandu Post, Cyberpost, September 29, 1999)

Energy for IT: Computers cannot run without electricity, which is available mainly in urban areas. It is very difficult to supply main line electricity to rural households which are scattered far and wide. Alternative energy, particularly solar energy and micro-hydro power seems to be the most practical source of energy to promote IT in the rural and remote area of the country. To date more than 25 thousand households are using it to light the houses and watch TV. Very few of them are using it to run computer. One of the objectives for prioritizing solar energy projects should be to increase the access and use of IT in rural and remote area.

Digital Divide within the country: There is a great digital divide within the country, between the urban and rural areas, and Kathmandu valley and rest of the country. More than 95 percent of the websites originate from the capital city. The number of the Internet users is not increasing at that ratio of the increase in the number of websites. Number of Internet account holders is estimated to increase by 20 to 30 percent every year.

All the Internet Service Providers depend on Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) for the connectivity with the end users. Apart from the Internet charges the customers have to pay the telephone charge at the rate of the voice telephone, which is quite costly in comparison to other countries. At the same time NTC also provides Internet service.

Problems regarding the access to Internet, particularly in rural areas, are related with lack of telecommunication infrastructure, lack of ISPs, unreliable and variable power supply, low bandwidth leading to slow connection, lack of local software and hardware support, lack of awareness among local people of facilities offered, poor location and inadequate opening hours and inadequate dedicated management.

As technology is advancing, the gap between the information haves and have nots is also widening. Digital divide is increasing not only between the rich and poor, but also within the communities and between different sexes and races and ethnic groups of people. IT may therefore have a greater role to play in giving voice to the deprived vulnerable sex, race and groups of people. It is important to make them information providers rather than information recipients only.

Meeting the challenges

Among various challenges and problems of access and use of IT such as adverse geographical condition, poverty, high illiteracy, unfriendly Internet and telephone tariff, domination of English in Internet, unfriendly licensing policy and high fee and tax for Internet business (small entrepreneur), lack of electricity and diversity of language etc., inadequate telecommunication infrastructure and monopoly of Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) are the main impediments for the development of IT in Nepal. Therefore overhauling the telecommunication policy should be one of the preconditions for the development of IT in the country. At the same time is also necessary to formulate relevant policies and laws, adopt appropriate technology, utilize external assistance and conduct training.

The main challenge seems to be more socio-cultural than the physical. The fear of cost and mastering new technology is not as great as the fear of loosing control over the existing knowledge/information system. For example, the bureaucrats in the government offices usually dislike the idea of keeping all the official documents in the computer and networking within the ministry, department or the office. Therefore in the websites of the ministries of the government we see the biographies of the ministers, messages from the ministers, secretaries and the head of the departments instead of the relevant data. It is true not only in the case of the government offices. This kind of media hierarchy is prevalent in many organizations, NGOs and within the families also.

Overcoming this socio-cultural or mental barrier seems to be the greatest challenge which many Asian countries including Nepal have to address. Once this mental barrier is crossed all other barriers such as policy, law, monopoly, tariff, access, rural connectivity, computer literacy etc. can be overcome. This is a unique problem of most of the Asian countries and we should find out the solution ourselves.

Whether people are ready or not it is true that IT is no more a luxury now even for a country like Nepal where the teledencity has not crossed 1.5 percent. It is also true that the poorer the nation, the higher the importance of IT. In comparison to neighboring countries the situation of landlocked ness and scarcity of physical resource makes IT more important for Nepal. IT has great potential in empowering people, which is the crucial for strengthening democracy and enhancing development.

The End.

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