Cabinet set to go high-tech

KATHMANDU, July 28 - The cabinet is all set to go high-tech in order to fit in with the vision for a new Nepal. The cabinet meeting hall at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers inside Singha Durbar has been fully computerized. Around 25 laptops have ... ...installed in the hall and are ready for operation.Once the system becomes operational, all cabinet agendas will be presented in digital form. And, cabinet members will be reading them on the screens of their laptops and putting their signatures on the approved agendas."The computerized system is ready and can be run anytime now," Chief Secretary Dr Bhoj Raj Ghimre told the Post on Sunday.It means that members of the new government will be sitting inside a fully computerized hall to sketch a new Nepal.The Chief Secretary said that arrangements are yet to be made to put electronic signatures on approved cabinet proposals. "Even if the system for electronic signatures is not ready, the cabinet will begin using the already installed system for much of their work," said Ghimire.The system allows cabinet members to access the agenda of particular cabinet meeting only after the Chief Secretary first unveils it on his laptop connected to computers in the "secrete cabinet section" where cabinet proposals are drafted, officials said."Cabinet members can read only one agenda on their laptops at a time," Dr Ghimire said about the new system.In the meantime, the Chief Secretary has issued a directive to all ministries and secretaries to send cabinet proposals in electronic version - in CDs and pen drives – to kickstart the computerized At the initial stage, the ministers and secretaries are required to send both hard copies and electronic copies of cabinet proposals. They have been asked to send cabinet proposals in pen drives and CDs along with hard copies for now.According to the Chief Secretary, "sufficient" security measures have been applied to ward off hackers and to prevent theft of cabinet decisions and proposals.Apart from the cabinet meeting hall, meeting rooms of all cabinet committees have also been made high-tech, according to officials at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg