Nepal DPM Sujata firm on printing MRPs in India

Kathmandu, Mar 11 : Nepal Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala today said that the contract of printing the Machine Readable Passports (MPRs) should be granted to Government of India.

Talking to reporters here, Koirala said the situation had become shameful due to weaknesses on the part of Nepal government and that the passport deal should be given to India.

She further said she wonders why the proposal she took to the cabinet two months ago has not been approved yet.

She said she chose the Indian company for the job as it had presented the proposal first.
"There is no risk of information leakage as the tasks of printing and photo numbering will be carried out in Nepal. India would even construct a building here for the printer, Kantipur quoted Koirala as, saying.

Koirala also said the country has not been developed due to unnecessary suspicion over India.

"If there is a security threat from giving MRP printing job to India, there will be equal threat from giving the job to any other company, Koirla said.

As per the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) deadline, Nepal has to implement MRPs from April 1.

Earlier, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had directed the Nepal Foreign Ministry to revive the bidding for the MRP supply saying that imports from India would undermine the national security issues.