KATHMANDU: The government’s courier service, launched to deliver public services directly to citizens’ doorsteps, has now expanded to 60 districts across Nepal.
According to the Department of Postal Services, the initiative is part of efforts to digitize and streamline the government service delivery system by providing home delivery of passports, driving licenses, educational certificates, and other official documents.
Director General Man Maya Bhattarai Pangeni said the service has gradually become effective in most districts despite initial resistance in some areas.
“We are expanding the service by mobilizing mechanisms down to the local level. Citizens are gradually being freed from the compulsion of visiting offices to collect government documents,” she said.
The department stated that since the launch of the program, a total of 28,169 passports have been transported to the respective districts. Among them, 1,635 passports have already been delivered directly to service recipients at their homes.
The department said the distribution process has become easier after district administration offices started collecting the addresses of applicants during passport application procedures.
The postal system is also being increasingly used in transport-related services. As of May 22, the department had dispatched 470,881 driving licenses to concerned transport offices, while 671 licenses had been delivered to citizens’ homes.
Beyond document delivery, the postal department has expanded collaboration with the education and health sectors. So far, 260 educational certificates have been distributed through the service.
In coordination with the National Public Health Laboratory, the department has transported 488 laboratory samples. The laboratory sample transportation service has been launched from Surkhet, Banke, and Kathmandu.
The department also said preparations are underway to launch a home delivery service for SIM cards in collaboration with Nepal Telecom.
Meanwhile, transportation of question papers, answer sheets, and certificates has already begun in partnership with Mid-West University, while discussions are ongoing with Nepal Open University regarding educational certificate delivery.
Similarly, the department said a preliminary draft agreement has been prepared with the National Health, Education and Information Center regarding postal transportation services. Discussions are also underway to transport materials distributed by Nepal Telecom through the postal network.
The department further stated that talks have begun on expanding courier services to transport goods for the private sector as well.
According to Director General Man Maya Bhattarai Pangeni, significant progress has also been made in international courier services, with preparations underway to expand postal access to additional countries through discussions with airline service providers.
She said efforts are continuing to upgrade the service system despite limited resources.
As part of system reforms, a study committee has been formed to integrate systems with the Department of Passports, while initiatives are also being taken to integrate systems with the Office of the Financial Comptroller General.
The department said work is also underway to upgrade postal codes under the Postal Internal Tracking System (PITS).
Although the government is attempting to transform the traditional postal service into a modern public service delivery system, the service remains in its early stages. With effective implementation yet to be achieved in many districts, improvements are still needed in delivery speed, transparency, and reliability.
However, the concept of delivering government services directly to citizens’ homes is seen as a step toward making public administration more accessible and modern.
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