The Ministry of Information and Communications has formed a four-member committee to study the transparency and legal issues seen in the procurement of equipment and technology by Nepal Television.
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The Ministry of Information and Communications has informed that it has formed a four-member committee to study and investigate the equipment and technology procurement process carried out by the public service broadcasting organization, Nepal Television, at various times. According to the ministry, a four-member investigation committee was formed under the coordination of Sudip Bhattarai by a ministerial decision dated Asad 1, 2083. The committee has been asked to submit a report with suggestions to the ministry within 21 days after conducting a factual study of complaints, reports and issues of public concern related to various equipment, software and digital systems purchased by Nepal Television. The investigation committee has been given a mandate to conduct a detailed study on the graphics system, new media (digital platform) service, audio/video equipment, digital transmitter and ‘playout automation system’ purchased for Itahari channel purchased by Nepal Television. There are complaints and grievances in various bodies regarding these matters. The ministry has formed the investigation committee for its internal information purposes in connection with such complaints and grievances.
Questions have been raised regarding transparency and compliance with legal procedures regarding various procurement processes for modernization of technology and broadcasting systems in Nepal Television over the past few years.
Earlier, the ministry had also formed an investigation committee into the satellite procurement case of the public service broadcasting organization. The coordinator of the committee is Engineer Abhash Maskey, while Umesh Rupakheti, Tikaram Karki and Navin Kumar Mishra are members.
According to the ministry, the public service broadcasting organization has been continuously entering into rental agreements with foreign satellite bandwidth service provider companies since 2002 to broadcast its channels via satellite. Questions have been raised regarding the decisions to add channels from time to time, convert from Standard Definition (SD) to High Definition (HD), enter into supplementary agreements and purchase equipment.
