Experts for no more than 12 ministers in federal govt

KATHMANDU, July 20: Public administration experts and bureaucrats have suggested that the new constitution should have provisions that limit the number of central government ministers to twelve.

They argued that since the provincial states will also have various ministries, more than twelve ministries at the center would be superfluous.Kashi Raj Dahal, chairman of the Administrative Court, said, "The provision in the draft constitution that allows the central government to appoint up to 25 ministers creates an option for setting up equal number of ministries, which may lead to unnecessary expenses. Therefore, the new constitution should limit the number of ministers at the central level up to twelve."

Dahal said so at a program organized by Public Administration Association of Nepal to collect feedbacks from administration experts and bureaucrats on provisions related to public administration in the draft constitution.

"Past experience shows that political leaders appoint as many ministries as the law permits, even when it is unnecessary. So, we cannot say that as many as 25 ministries may not be formed in the future," said he

He said that 25 ministries at the central level would lead clumsy bureaucratic structures, which would mean poor public service.

Echoing the sentiment, Keshav Raj Pandey, assistant professor at the Public Administration Campus, said the new constitution should limit the number of ministries in the new constitution. "If the constitution limits the number, political parties will be forced to find a power-sharing solution within that limitation," said he.

He further stressed that that the right to appropriate administrative functions should be included as fundamental rights in the new constitution. "Likewise, the new constitution should expand jurisdiction of the administrative court and also allow it to review laws related to public administration when necessary," said he.

Bharat Bahadur Thapa, a former government secretary, said that the new constitution should allow the Commission for the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to investigate into both inappropriate activities and financial irregularities by public office bearers. The draft constitution limits the CIAA to investigating only financial irregularities by government employees.

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