Govt begins homework to ensure smooth decision making at NTA

KATHMANDU, JAN 28 -

With the absence of a chairman at the Nepal Telecommunications Authority ( NTA ) hindering decision making, the government has initiated homework to ensure that decisions could be taken even in chairman’s absence.

The Telecommunication Act 1997 has made the chairman indispensable for making policy related decision, which has made the NTA board defunct when it comes to decision making. After the Supreme Court stay order against the appointment of Digambar Jha as NTA chairman last month, rest of the board members are ‘handcuffed’.

The authority has not been able to take a decision in many crucial matters, including licence issuance, approval of voice and data tariffs, licence renewal of telecom operators and internet service providers, it said. The absence of a chairman has also affected implementation of NTA ’s annual programmes which require the board’s approval.

The authority has to renew the licences Nepal Satellite Telecom (NST) and other internet service providers by the next month, according to an NTA official.

As a solution, the government is preparing to authorise the four existing board members to hold board meeting and take decisions. For this, the government will issue an order on the basis of the

Act’s Clause 60 that that has given the Ministry of Information and Commu-nication (MoIC) the power to remove any difficulty in the implementation of the Act.

Sushil Ojha, joint secretary at the MoIC, said they have sent a draft of the order to the Ministry of Law, Jutice, Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs for approval, which will later be published in the Nepal Gazette.

Prior to the notice’s publication, the ministry has to get approval from the Cabinet and the order should not be inconsistent with other provisions of the Act. A source at the Communications Ministry said they have proposed three options to the Law Ministry — the four board members would chair the board on rotation basis; the senior-most board member would chair the meeting; and the senior-most NTA official would chair the meeting.

In August last year, the Communications Ministry had delegated the power of chairman to senior director Ananda Raj Khanal to implement NTA ‘s annual programmes and take decision on financial- and management-related internal affairs after the then chairman Bhesh Raj Kanel quit.

A four-member committee comprising three board members and Khanal was also formed to take policy-level decisions through the direct decision of the Communica-tions Ministry.

NTA officials said the Communications Ministry has been trying to find a legal provision after the workers’ union at the authority warned the ministry not to go against the Act. “This time, the Law Ministry may give a go ahead for holding board meetings under the chairmanship of a senior board member to stay away from possible controversies.”

Source: The Kathmandu Post