KATHMANDU, March 16: The government has formed a high-level committee, led by Chudamani Paudel, Secretary of the Council of Ministers and Prime Minister's Office, to implement the recommendations from the 2081 BS study report on merging, abolishing, or transferring separate structures established to perform the same tasks.
The committee will also address the suggestions from the commission, coordinated by Dilliraj Khanal, to reduce public expenditure. The Cabinet established the committee under Paudel's leadership in mid-February.
The Prime Minister's Office has assigned Poudel, the Secretary overseeing the governance reform sector, responsibility for this task. Under his leadership, the committee is studying the appropriate actions for merging, abolishing, or relocating unnecessary government offices and departments or shifting them to provincial and local levels.
This committee was formed after several previous committees established for administrative reform failed to achieve the expected results. Sources at the Cabinet and the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that the committee is working according to its mandate.
NHRC urges govt to ensure implementation of its past recommenda...
The government is expected to act on the recommendations provided by Poudel's committee. However, employees at the Prime Minister's Office lack confidence that the committee will implement the suggestions made by various committees and commissions regarding the closure, merging, or relocation of unnecessary government offices.
The Public Expenditure Review Commission, formed under Khanal's leadership, recommended that the government maintain only 16 ministries and 35 departments at the central level. The report suggested that the Ministry of Water Supply was unnecessary at the central level, as the responsibility for water supply has already been transferred to provincial and local levels. Therefore, the commission proposed merging the Ministry of Water Supply with the Ministry of Energy. Additionally, the commission recommended merging the federal ministries with the Ministry of Law.
The commission recommended reducing the number of divisions in ministries. It suggested that each ministry should have only three to five divisions. For ministries with three divisions, the report proposed employing 62 staff members; for ministries with four divisions, 75 staff members; and for ministries with five divisions, 88 staff members. It also recommended appointing one director-general, one deputy director-general, one undersecretary, two officers, one assistant, one computer operator, and one office assistant in each division.
The commission advised reducing employee positions in the federal government by up to 60 percent. It suggested transferring some offices to provincial and local levels. The report identified 57 departments under the federal government as unnecessary and recommended maintaining a total of 9,652 staff positions for the judiciary and constitutional bodies.
The commission recommended improving public expenditure by abolishing or merging various funds, committees, councils, and boards under the federal government. It advised the government to abolish the National Dairy Development Board and the Cotton Development Committee and suggested removing the National Tea and Coffee Development Board and Cardamom Development Board from the federal government.
Additionally, the commission proposed transforming the National Planning Commission into a Federal Planning Commission to coordinate all types of economic and social development. It recommended merging the National Sports Council with Nepal Scouts and transferring the Janak Education Materials Center to the Printing Department.
The Khanal Commission recommended abolishing the Taragaon Development Committee, Local Development Training Academy, Road Board Nepal, Central Haj Committee, Press Council, Central Child Welfare Committee, and District Child Welfare Committees.
The commission also suggested removing the Department of Local Infrastructure Development (DoLID) from the federal government, which is currently under the Ministry of Urban Development. This office was previously named DoLI and was under the Ministry of Federal Affairs. It has since been renamed DoLID.
