Ghimire has also taken the oath of office and secrecy today.
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Arjun Ghimire has been appointed as the Chairman of Nepal Telecommunications Authority. Ghimire received the appointment letter from Information and Communications Minister Bikram Timilsina today and took the oath of office and secrecy. The Ministry of Communications has stated that he was appointed as per the decision of the Council of Ministers on Ashad 24. Some have raised questions saying that he was appointed with an earlier date.
The newly appointed Chairman Ghimire was previously working as a director in the Telecommunications Authority. The government issued the 'Special Provisions Ordinance on the Removal of Public Office Holders, 2083' on Baisakh 18. As soon as the said ordinance was published in the gazette, the then Chairman of the Authority, Bhupendra Bhandari and four other board members of the Authority were removed from their posts at once.
Since then, Ghimire has been the acting Chairman. He was the Director of the Consumer Interest Protection Division under the Administration and Licensing Directorate of the Authority. He has worked in the NEA in various capacities for more than a decade and a half.
Among the candidates who applied for the post of chairman, nine candidates, including Ghimire, were shortlisted. Along with Ghimire, the shortlist included former Nepal Telecom employees Anantaman Singh, Amlendu Narayan Singh, Sanaullah Khan, Sushil Prasad Sah, retired DIG Rajiv Subba, and other experts Anil Kumar Jha, Janardan Bhatta, and Madhusudan Dahal. The government has entrusted the leadership of the NEA to Ghimire.
Section 5 (1) of the Telecommunications Act, 2053 BS, stipulates that to be the chairman of the NEA, a person must have the prescribed qualifications and experience in the technical, administrative, market management, accounting and auditing, or legal fields related to telecommunications services. According to Rule 3 of the Telecommunications Regulations, 2054 BS, only a Nepali citizen who has at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent degree in the relevant field and at least 10 years of work experience can be the chairman. 6 . In addition, there is a condition that the person should not have completed 30 years and not have exceeded 65 years of age and should not have obtained a permanent residence permit from any foreign country .
After the government issued the 'Directive on the Appointment and Nomination of Officials and Members of Public Bodies Affiliated to the Ministry of Information and Communications, 2083' on Jestha 5, some confusion and suspicion arose after specifying additional criteria regarding the experience of the chairperson . According to point 6 of the directive, it is mentioned that in the case of employees working in government services or public institutions, they should have worked in at least a gazetted first class (similar to joint secretary), eleventh level or higher position . In the case of other organizations or companies, it is said that they should have gained 10 years of experience as per the regulations in a high managerial level .
While presenting the appointment letter, Minister of Communications Timilsina said that the government has high expectations from the chairperson who has been selected through a competitive process and has assumed the responsibility . Stating that the recommendation committee selected Ghimire based on the belief that he can discharge his responsibilities in a fair, impartial and result-oriented manner, Minister Timilsina emphasized that the regulatory body should fulfill its role seriously. He has directed to pay special attention to solving problems in the telecommunications sector and to work impartially as per legal responsibilities.
Since he has reached the leadership from the internal structure of the authority, how he will take forward contemporary challenges such as the commercial launch of 5G and the regulation of internet services in Nepal is being watched with interest in the sector. Since Ghimire has long experience in the economic and consumer policy of the telecommunications sector, it is expected that unhealthy commercial competition of service providers and tariff-related irregularities will be strictly regulated under his leadership.
