Although a formal agreement is yet to be signed, the proposal was “discussed” during the meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala during Krishna´s Nepal visit earlier this month, a Foreign Ministry official told myrepublica.com. [break]
It is learnt that the Indian proposal has been on the table for the last 10 months and negotiations with India were going on when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) started the bidding process for procuring the MRPs. As per ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) requirements, Nepal has to go for MRPs by 2010. Earlier, the Indian side had offered to supply the passport booklets at Indian rupees 400 per piece.
The Public Procurement Act 2063 allows such a bilateral mechanism. However, if the government decides to procure the passports from India as per the Act, a committee formed under the chief secretary would have to recommend the purchase, and it would then have to be endorsed by the cabinet. The cabinet thereafter would delegate authority to MoFA to go through with the process.
The ISP is under the Indian government´s Ministry of Finance and Revenue and the manufacturing plant is in Nasik in Maharashtra state. India has been using MRPs for the last seven-eight years and is now set to go for e-passports.
MoFA on January 15 scrapped the $72 million project citing “technical reasons.” The Ministry took the decision to this effect a day before the final date for submission of bids by four firms -- Oberthur Technologies (France), Gemalto (Finland), Sagem Security Printers (France) and 3M Technology (Singapore) - that were short-listed for the project.
The cancellation also meant that Nepal would miss the April 1 deadline set by ICAO.
Chief of Protocol at MoFA, Mohan K Shrestha, declined to comment when contacted. Shrestha only said that no formal instruction has been given in this regard.
akanshya@myrepublica.com
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