Indrasarowar Rural Municipality Initiates the First Rollout of New Local Government Website in Bagamati Province
Fig: New Local Government Website Training: Opening Session
What was the context/challenge?
Local governments are the first tier of the state to connect directly with citizens, and their official websites are a primary channel for transparent, accessible, and effective service delivery. However, a considerable number of local government websites in Bagamati Province faced recurring technical difficulties. Essential information such as notices, budgets, public documents, and online services was not regularly updated, and websites remained vulnerable to cybersecurity risks. Local Government IT Officers, though committed, lacked structured, standardized training on a common platform, resulting in inconsistent website quality and limited citizen access to digital services across the province's 13 districts.
What was done?
PLGSP's support to local government digitization in Bagamati Province builds on a foundation laid around 2015, when the then Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD), with support from the Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP), the predecessor of PLGSP, and dedicated National UNV IT professionals, first developed integrated websites for local governments using the open-source Drupal platform. ICT Volunteers from that initiative, many of whom now serve as IT Officers within local governments, kept hundreds of these websites running through the transition to federalism.
Fig:Technical facilitators guiding IT Officers through the new platform
Building on this foundation, PLGSP has continued to invest in Result Area 7.4 (Local Government capacity for digitization, Information Technology and Data management strengthened) under its Digitization, e-Governance and Data Management thematic stream, supporting local governments in Bagamati Province. The current phase of this support is the rollout of a new Local Government Integrated Website System (LGIWS), developed under a formal understanding between the then Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) and the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) for the adoption and customization of the Government Integrated Website Management System (GIWMS), aligned with the Government Website Development and Management Directive, 2078.
Fig: Participants from local governments practicing on their respective websites
Under PLGSP's approved annual budget and programme, the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of Bagamati Province, through PLGSP's Provincial Programme Support Unit (PPSU) in Hetauda, organized a structured two-day learning exchange and capacity building programme on the implementation and operation of the new website system. The training was at Sauraha, Chitwan, in two phases: the first group, covering Rasuwa, Dhading, Kavrepalanchok, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur districts, on 17 and 18 Asar 2083 and the second group, covering Nuwakot, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Ramechhap, and Sindhupalchok districts, on 19 and 20 Asar 2083, together reaching IT Officers from all 13 districts of the province.
Fig: Key features of the new Local Government website platform
Sessions were facilitated jointly by computer engineers from the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Federal Affairs and General Administration and PLGSP IT Analysts, including direct technical facilitation by the IT Analyst of PLGSP Bagamati Province. The curriculum combined policy orientation on e-governance and the legal basis for local government websites with hands-on sessions on website setup and secure login, content and menu management, multimedia and citizen interaction features, and website security practices including password protection, SSL, and data backup. A technical validation discussion with the Programme Coordination Unit and visiting IT Analysts from other provinces followed the training, helping refine the platform and training materials for use elsewhere in Nepal.
Result: What was achieved?
IT Officers from local governments across all 13 districts of Bagamati Province were trained and equipped as official administrators of their new websites. Participants reported that prior technical and policy ambiguities in website management had been substantially reduced, and the standardized platform made routine administration considerably more straightforward. Feedback from participants also identified the need for continued technical capacity building, a standing mechanism for resolving technical issues among local governments, and training on cybersecurity.
Fig: Indrasarowar Rural Municipality Website view
Building on this capacity building, Bagamati Province, through PLGSP's PPSU, is now extending IT support for the implementation of the new website to all local governments across the province. As the first visible result, Indrasarowar Rural Municipality initiated the first rollout of the new website, going live from the first day of fiscal year 2083/84 with direct technical support from Bagamati PPSU. Since then, and to date, the new website has been launched for the following local governments in Bagamati Province, with support from PLGSP:
- Indrasarowar Rural Municipality — https://indrasarowarmun.gov.np/
- Siddhalek Rural Municipality — https://siddhalekmun.gov.np/
- Uttargaya Rural Municipality — https://uttargayamun.gov.np/
- Bagmati Rural Municipality, Makwanpur — https://Bagmatimunmakawanpur.gov.np/
These early launches set a working reference for the province-wide rollout that is to follow, with detailed, hands-on training and technical support planned for all remaining local governments in the new fiscal year.
Conclusion:
This work, extending from foundational local government ICT support since 2015 to the current rollout of a new, standardized website platform, strengthens provincial and local governance systems and procedures and directly builds the capacity of local governments to deliver services to citizens, contributing to the PLGSP goal of functional, sustainable, inclusive, and accountable provincial and local governance. It advances PLGSP Objective 1, strengthening provincial and local governance systems and procedures and intergovernmental relationships to maximize the benefits of cooperative federalism for the Nepali people, by consolidating a common, secure digital platform across local governments, and PLGSP Objective 2, enhancing the capacity of provincial and local governments to deliver services and development outcomes effectively to people, through the technical capacity built among Local Government IT Officers and the early, working examples set by Indrasarowar Rural Municipality, Siddhalek Rural Municipality, Uttargaya Rural Municipality, and Bagamati Rural Municipality, Makwanpur.
