Kathmandu, July 13: Arjun Ghimire has been appointed as the Chairperson of Nepal Telecommunications Authority and Umesh Shrestha as the Chair of Press Council Nepal.
They were appointed as per the decision of the Council of Ministers on July 8.
The newly appointed chairs received their appointment letters from Minister for Information and Communications Dr Bikram Timilsina today.
After presenting the appointment letters, Communications Minister Dr Timilsina congratulated the newly appointed chairs of both the organizations who were selected through a competitive process and directed them to work in a result-oriented manner.
Stating that the recommendation committee selected them for the post based on their confidence that they could discharge their responsibilities in a fair, impartial and result-oriented manner, Communications Minister Dr Timilsina directed them to play a significant role as the head of the regulatory body and to do exemplary work in the field of information and communications.
He said that the role of the Press Council will be important in making the media sector more responsible, dignified and effective. The Communications Minister stated that misinformation and disinformation are the major challenges in the media sector at present and pointed out the need to identify and address them.
Similarly, Minister of Communications Dr. Timilsina said that if the media sector can be further strengthened, the media world will benefit the most, so there is a need for positive intervention on the part of the Council.
He stated that old laws are being revised and informed that discussions on the draft of the Media Council Bill and the Mass Media Bill have already progressed.
Minister for Communications Dr Timilsina, while discussing the importance of the telecommunications sector, suggested moving forward by formulating a short-term, medium-term and long-term action plan keeping the interests of the citizens and the quality of services at the center. The ministry is always ready to create a suitable environment for the necessary policy and institutional support, he said.
The newly appointed chair of the Press Council, Shrestha, mentioned that although the nature of the media has changed, the law related to the Press Council is outdated and pointed out the need to amend it in a timely manner.
He said that his priority would be to further strengthen the system of self-regulation in journalism by effectively implementing the journalist code of conduct. Expressing his commitment to work as a bridge of trust between the government and the media sector, Chair Shrestha said that the Council would remain active in promoting responsible journalism along with protecting press freedom.
Similarly, the newly appointed NTA Chair, Ghimire, expressed his commitment to work by focusing on solving problems by eliminating the existing shortcomings in the telecommunications sector. He made it clear that he was in favor of building a citizen-oriented, responsible and effective telecommunications sector and expressed his commitment to provide quality and customer-friendly services in cooperation, collaboration and coordination with the Ministry of Communications and other stakeholders.
