‘Smart license’ that could not become ‘smart’!
‘Smart license’ that could not become ‘smart’!
Asking why new technology is being used to replace old technology may be the answer for many to save time and money. The opposite is true of ‘smart’ driver’s licenses. From the very beginning, it has become slow and cumbersome for the service recipients.
It is not because of technology but because its management is not easy.
Initially, the service seekers had to wait for years due to low capacity of the printing equipment (printer) but now the service seekers have not got the license as they do not have a printing card.
According to the Department of Transport Management, an agreement was reached with a French company (Selp Saas) last January to buy 1.4 million cards. According to the agreement, the sample blank card (sample blank card) was tested in the software of the department, said Director General Namaraj Ghimire.
According to him, there has been a problem in ‘personalization’ so far. Now the problem is when there is a different company. Director General Ghimire said, “The delay is due to technology rather than the company.”
To solve the problem, the department has repeatedly said that it is holding discussions between the company that bought the card and the company that bought the ‘mass printer’ earlier.
He said that the test was successful after the Selp Saas company sent five sample cards last time.
As the current problem is almost over, the card will come in a month and a half and can be distributed in a few months. The card can be printed after the technical problem is removed.
During the shutdown last year, the department had printed licenses in three shifts. “Even now, it doesn’t take long to print the remaining licenses based on the capacity of the mass printer,” he said.
The number of service recipients who have filled the online form to join the examination for the license is around four lakh. The department has to print the license after passing the examination and renewing it. Director General Ghimire said that the department is only doing emergency printing now.
Permits have been issued only to those who go on missions to the police and the armed police, those who go abroad for study or employment, and those who request some special printing. He said, “Those whose licenses were printed earlier are being reprinted as they were damaged during printing.”
As arrangements will be made for the service recipients to get the license on the day of payment of revenue in the coming days, now that the card problem has been resolved, the service recipients will not have to wait for a long time to get the license. As the department has the necessary manpower and equipment, the licenses will be printed at different times like last year.
The three district administration offices in the Kathmandu Valley had issued a restraining order from April 29 and the department had postponed filling the form online.
Forms that were postponed during the shutdown last year were reopened in January. The form has been postponed again for about four months. Even in the face of increasing corona infection, the form will probably be opened from next August.
Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Rabindranath Shrestha said that there was a technical problem when administration officials were sent to lead the department.
He said that there would be no technical problem in upgrading the mechanical engineer of the department.
In Nepal, in December 2072 BS, the ‘smart’ driver’s license was started from the office in Ekantakuna. Four printers and 350,000 cards were procured on the basis of an agreement reached under the Asian Development Bank’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project.
In the following years, the system was extended to other transport offices in the Valley, such as Thulo Bharyang, Jagati and Chawhil.
Director General Ghimire said that the service recipients did not get the license on time as the equipment and cards could not be managed while the ‘smart’ driver’s license was being introduced in the Kathmandu Valley.
In the fiscal year 2073/74, seven lakh 50 Jahar cards and four printing equipments were procured through contract. Due to the equipment capable of printing only 60 cards per hour, it was necessary to print in detail.
Due to the delay due to the equipment, the department had purchased a large number of equipment that could print cards in one go in 2076 BS. The equipment purchased from Madras Security Painting has the capacity to print 450 cards per hour.
After the implementation of ‘smart’ cards from all the offices across the country, about eight lakh cards were left to be printed.
Until then, the department had only two lakh (blank) cards left to print, but the process was started in February 2076 BS to purchase another 1.4 million cards.
The process could not go ahead for some time due to Covid, so in July last year, the process was resumed and an agreement was reached with a French company to buy the card.
Although there was no problem when the Madras company bought both the card and the ‘mass printer’ from the same company, now there is a problem to match the sample sent by the company in the software here.
Not only does it take time to print the license, but even the cards that have been waiting for a long time are experiencing problems from time to time.
After waiting for a long time and printing the card at once, there is a crowd of service recipients at the transport office. However, due to Covid, the number of those who are not able to fill online is increasing and even those who have filled the form are confused as to when the exam will be held.
According to the constitution, the jurisdiction of the three levels of government has been defined and the transport sector has come under the common jurisdiction of all the three levels. It is mentioned that the federal government will be responsible for the management of vehicles running within one local level, the municipality running in two or more municipalities and the federal government will be responsible for the management of inter-state vehicles.
The provincial office has been conducting examination, renewal and distribution of licenses. The federal government has license printing and software. Due to lack of coordination between different governments, service recipients have been facing problems from time to time. रासस
.
