Embossed Number: State name in Nepali, other as usual

KATHMANDU: The government has instructed the contractor to print the number plates with the name of the state in Devanagari and other numbers in English, following the decision to put the name of the province in Devanagari and other numbers in English on the embossed number plates of the vehicles.

Arjun Jung Thapa, joint secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, stated that the state’s name will be written in Nepali, but all other details will remain the same. ‘The written name of the state is in Nepali.

The Nepalese flag appears on the license plate. It refers to Nepal’s vehicle,’ he explained. Tiger IT, a Bangladeshi company, has been entrusted with supplying the embossed numbers. In 2073, an agreement was made to install embossed numbers on 2.5 million automobiles in five years.

Despite the fact that the government has finalized the phrase to be embossed, the contractor business has yet to print the number plate, citing a technical issue. Engineer Thapa stated, “They have to change their system in order to put Devanagari script on the number plate.” ‘They’re getting ready for it. It will begin soon. We have directed the appropriate ‘party’ to prepare properly.

He stated that the embossed numbers are in Nepali and English since Nepali vehicles operate in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India under VVIN and their equipment should be able to interpret Nepali number plates. Engineer Thapa stated that embossed numbers in several nations, including India and China, are printed in English.

Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala informed the House of Representatives on the 12th Baisakh (April 25) that the Council of Ministers has decided to print the embossed number in Nepali, Nepali and English, and English in all three options, and that it will be implemented in a short time.

The cabinet meeting held on March 20 had decided to allow embossed number plates to be printed in Devanagari. The then Deputy Prime Minister and Physical Infrastructure Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha had said that the issue of printing embossed numbers in Devanagari was taken forward under the instructions of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. ‘For that, we are in the process of discussion with the relevant agency. We are going to speed up the process by making an action plan to advance it,” he said.

Nepali Language Save activists were protesting that the government made it mandatory to print embossed numbers in English. It was also debated that embossed numbers placed on vehicles should be kept in Nepali. Earlier, the embossed number was printed in English.

Department Awaiting Instructions

Even though the government intends to print embossed numbers in Devanagari script, the Transport Management Department claims that the task will be impossible to complete due to a lack of clear orders from the ministry. Ishwari Dutta Paneru, the department’s information officer, stated that no preparations have been made and that they are awaiting directions from the government.

“It has been decided to print in Devanagari script, but it is not yet clear which letters and numbers will be printed in Devanagari,” he explained. “The English is not invalid; the plate is being printed in accordance with the ‘order’ received for the embossed number,” stated Paneru, an information officer. Approximately three lakh embossed numbers have been printed so far.