The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued nine-point directives to district administration offices across the country, including implementing a 'single-door service system'. The ministry has issued such directives to make the service delivery provided by district administration offices and area administration offices more accountable.

The circular issued by the ministry also asks for the minimum budget required for the implementation of the single-door service system from the existing budget in the current fiscal year and for the improvement work to be done in the coming fiscal year.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also reminded the Chief District Officer, as a representative of the Government of Nepal, of his important administrative role in maintaining peace, order and security in the district in accordance with the prevailing laws, protecting the lives, property and freedom of the people, ensuring the delivery of public services, strengthening good governance and facilitating development management.

On the day Home Minister Sudhan Gurung assumed office, the ministry and its subordinate bodies were instructed to make arrangements to provide services provided by the District Administration Office and Area Administration Office through a single-door system. The 100 agenda for governance reforms approved by the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal on Chaitra 13 mentions the need to focus on qualitative improvement, strengthening good governance, and corruption control in order to win the trust of citizens in public service delivery.

The directive issued in accordance with the secretary-level decision of the ministry states, 'In order to improve the services provided by the District Administration Office and make them convenient and service-recipient-friendly in line with the expectations of the people, it is necessary to implement the 'One-Door Service System' as soon as possible by making the creative and innovative measures currently implemented in some districts, such as the token system, citizen hearing system, online recommendation of new citizenship, free help desk, etc., more comprehensive and institutionalized. In order to immediately move forward the reform work in accordance with the directives of the Home Minister and the main spirit of the 100-point agenda, it is necessary to implement the 'One-Door Service System' as soon as possible.'

These are the nine-point directives Areas to manage the One-Door Service System

It has been asked to prepare appropriate service desks for services related to new citizenship, copy of citizenship, passport, national identity card and minor identity card and make them service-recipient-friendly.

Similarly, all employees from the initiation to the approval level have been instructed to make arrangements to provide services from one desk as much as possible.

The ministry has directed to arrange for appropriate service rooms based on the workload and availability of employees for registration and renewal of organizations, renewal of weapons and document verification, and to provide services in a transparent manner by arranging for service recipients to sit in waiting/resting rooms as much as possible.

Similarly, it has been asked to take forward improvement activities by paying attention to the fact that services provided by the District Administration Office can be accessed through the online system as much as possible.

Regarding the token system and help desk, it has been instructed to implement a token system based on the pressure and needs of service recipients and to keep a help desk with employees and computers in a place that is easily accessible as soon as one enters the office. It has been asked to make arrangements to keep only employees who understand the service content of the District Administration Office in the help desk and to open the help desk at 9:00 am.

The need for a help desk has also been pointed out to facilitate service recipients in writing applications/filling in details, to provide tokens after initial examination of documents in the help desk, and to provide notes to service recipients whose documents have not been received, clarifying what is missing.

Similarly, it has been asked that the front desk staff send service recipients to the office or keep them in the waiting room according to the pressure of service recipients in the office, and that the front desk or help desk staff provide priority service to senior citizens, patients, infirm, disabled people, and service recipients with small children.

Regarding the Citizen Charter, it has also been instructed to implement the Citizen Charter with digital and audio as much as possible, if not possible, to clearly state the procedural steps of all services provided by the office and to place the Citizen Charter in an easily readable font in a place where everyone can see it, and to create a WhatsApp group up to the Chief/Assistant Chief District Officer, Administrative Officer and Ward Chair level and make arrangements for regular discussions to simplify service delivery.

Regarding grievance management, it has been said in the directive to record the complaints and grievances received at the District Administration Office and to take immediate action to resolve the complaints and grievances. It has been asked to ensure that if the service recipients with disabilities and disabilities want to meet with the Chief District Officer and Assistant Chief District Officer, the Chief District Officer and Assistant Chief District Officer will personally meet them and immediately hear the complaints.

The instructions state that the office chief and the complaint officer should be contacted on their 'official' mobile phones continuously and that if they cannot be contacted immediately, they should call back to get information, conduct a public outreach program with the public every month, and address public complaints.

Regarding behavior towards service recipients, the employees should use dignified language and respect. If any employee harasses a service recipient, the Chief District Officer should adopt a zero-tolerance policy and take action in accordance with the prevailing law, report the matter to the ministry, and ensure cleanliness of the office premises.

Control of middlemen

It has also been directed to strictly control the work of middlemen by keeping a high level of surveillance on the entry of middlemen into the office, to expedite the action taken against middlemen, and to make arrangements for regular reports on the actions of those involved in middleman work through the Nepal Police so far (from the date of formation of the current government to the day of reporting) and thereafter.

Work descriptions to be prepared for each post

The District Administration Office and Area Administration Office have also been instructed to prepare and implement work descriptions with objective performance indicators for each post within 15 days to link work performance with results. . 

In the capacity development

directive, the District Administration Office has been asked to provide orientation and training to employees working in all ward offices on recommendations and other work related to the District Administration Office, to orient employees to complete work according to the work description in the District Administration Office, to arrange for necessary training for employees working mainly at the front desk or to request it from the ministry.

Information flow, monitoring and evaluation

The Chief District Officer has been asked to continuously monitor and monitor the work performance system, install CCTV if possible, continuously update the office website, strengthen proactive discourse and maintain a balance between confidentiality and transparency of the office, place the contact numbers of all employees including the Chief District Officer with their work responsibilities on the office website, and to mandatorily keep the numerical details of all types of services provided by the District Administration Office on that day in the prescribed format when sending daily reports on the peace and security situation in the district.