KATHMANDU, August 24: Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Mahabir Pun, who had announced that he would not speak publicly, has been in office for 75 days. During this period, he has met with ambassadors from four countries, prepared drafts of five laws, and completed the ministry’s Organizational and Management (ONM) survey.
The government has allocated approximately Rs 4 billion to the ministry under Pun’s leadership for the ongoing fiscal year 2026/27. Soon after assuming office, Pun announced that although the government’s tenure would be five years, he would serve for only up to three years.
Around one and a half months after Balendra Shah became prime minister, the government decided to reduce the number of federal ministries from 22 to 18. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 13 approved the ‘Work Division Regulations, 2083 BS’. Under the regulations, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation was formed by separating the science and technology sector from the then Ministry of Education, with a focus on science, technology and innovation.
A minister was appointed 26 days after the new ministry was formed. Until then, Prime Minister Shah had been overseeing the ministry.
After Pun’s appointment, the ministry was moved to the building previously occupied by the Ministry of Youth and Sports within the Singha Durbar premises. Pun has also made his residence inside the ministry building, meaning he has accommodation and food arrangements at the ministry itself. Pun has said he chose to live at the ministry so that he could work day and night.
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After assuming office, Pun told reporters that he would accelerate the government’s work. This has led to curiosity about what he has accomplished since his appointment.
“We have done a lot of work in a short time. First, we established the ministry. Laws had not been formulated, so we prepared drafts of five laws. We also completed the ONM survey,” Joint Secretary Monika Jha said. “More work has been done that cannot be seen than work that can be seen.”
22 Employees to Run the Ministry
According to Joint Secretary Jha, there are currently only 22 employees at the ministry, although the ministry has 90 sanctioned positions.
Dina Nath Mishra has been appointed secretary, while Sanjay Paudel has been appointed as Minister Pun’s personal secretary. Although the regulations allow the appointment of one expert at a level equivalent to a secretary, Pun has not appointed anyone to the position. Shailesh Kumar Jha and Amit Acharya have been appointed as the ministry’s spokesperson and information officer, respectively.
Jha said the Rs 4 billion allocated by the government has not yet been spent because the Science and Technology Act, regulations, procedures and standards have not yet been formulated. She said the ministry is currently working on the act, procedures, standards and regulations.
The ministry oversees the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), the National Forensic Science Laboratory, and the BP Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Observatory and Science Museum. It is also working to establish offices related to the Meteorological Department under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, a Metrology Department under the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, a Land Surveying Center, and laboratories for food quality testing.
According to Jha, drafts of five acts have been prepared: the Science, Technology and Innovation Act; an act to reform the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology; the Chemical Substances Act; the Observatory Act; and a Science and Technology Act related to the study of outer space.
Similarly, the ministry is preparing to reactivate research centers established at universities.
Minister Pun’s Meetings with Four Ambassadors
Since assuming office, Minister Pun has met with ambassadors from four countries. Photos of the meetings have been uploaded to the ministry’s website.
He met Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming on June 24, German Ambassador Udo Eugen Volz on July 5, Israeli Ambassador Shmulik Arie Bass on July 13, and Korean Ambassador Park Tae-Young on July 21.
