Construction works of the Security Printing Centre have been affected due to budget constraints arising from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The initial budget for infrastructure development of the centre had been allocated two years back and construction work of the centre, which is located in the IT Park in Kavrepalanchowk district, had already been started.
Since the government has prioritised the control of the impact of the COVID-19 in its budget for the next fiscal year, works related to the Security Printing Press have been put on the backburner.
The Security Printing Centre has said that both construction and administrative work have been affected by the COVID-19. Executive Director of the centre, Bikal Poudel, informed that the pandemic had hit the infrastructure development of the centre. He also mentioned that the process to designate the project as a multi-year one has also been delayed by the Ministry of Finance. He added that once there is fund commitment then works related to the centre will be resumed.
Construction work of the Security Printing Press had been started during the term of former Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Gokul Prasad Baskota. Minister Baskota had allotted space at the IT Park, which has remained unutilised since its establishment, to set up the printing press. An initial budget of Rs 1.03 billion had been allocated in the fiscal year 2076/77 to start construction work.
The total estimated cost of constructing the printing press has been set at Rs 33 billion. Though it was said initially that budget would be allocated to the project in a timely manner the budget for the next fiscal year has not separated any funds especially for the press.
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