KATHMANDU, Dec 12 : Prime Minister Sushila Karki expanded her interim cabinet on Friday with the induction of four new ministers.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the President’s Office, Shital Niwas.
The newly appointed ministers include Shraddha Shrestha (Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens), Kumar Ignam (Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation), Rajendra Singh Bhandari (Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security) and Madhav Chaulagain (Ministry of Forests and Environment).
With this expansion, the cabinet now comprises 14 members.
Kumar Ignam, who takes charge of the land ministry, is a professor at the Kathmandu School of Law and an expert in international trade, arbitration and financial crime law, with several publications to his name.
Labor minister Rajendra Singh Bhandari is a former Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police and the founding chief of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB).
Madhav Chaulagain, a public health specialist, has conducted extensive research on the Karnali region. He authored the book Sapadalaksh Karnali and recently gained attention for his song Mantha Hu Ma Mantha.
Shraddha Shrestha is a Senior Manager at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and previously headed the Board’s Sustainable Tourism Project.
With new ministers inducted in the cabinet today, the number of cabinet members in the current government has reached 14. The government formed after the Gen-Z Movement of September 8 and 9 was expanded thrice on September 15, September 22 and October 26 before this.