The government is preparing to utilize land and infrastructures of IT Park in Kavre to establish an open university.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has asked the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MoEST) to hand over the park to it so that it could use the space for the proposed Open University.

Though the IT Park was established eight years ago, it has not been able to start full-fledged operation.

“Although it is simply a proposal to look at, we have learnt that the government has started preparation to utilize the space of the IT Park by handing it over to the education ministry,” an official at the MoEST said, adding, “As we haven´t been able to operate the IT Park effectively, we don´t have strong reasons to decline the education ministry´s request.”

Though no decision has been taken at the ministerial level, the official feared the IT Park would ultimately be handed over to the MoEST.

Meanwhile, ICT entrepreneurs have started exerting pressure on the MoEST so that the huge investment on ICT does not go to waste. Amrit Pant, general secretary of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), an umbrella organization of ICT entrepreneurs, said the handover of IT Park to other ministry would be a serious setback to the country´s ICT sector.

The government has invested more than Rs 300 million to develop IT Park. Though it has expressed commitment to develop it as a special economic zone, nothing has been done in this direction so far.

Secretary of MoEST, Keshab Bhattarai, said the ministry was holding discussion on the proposal and that nothing has been decided so far.

source: republica,14 Dec 2012