CM Kandel plans ministry restructuring in Karnali

Surkhet, August 9: The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law of Karnali Province is currently without a minister. Chief Minister Yamlal Kandel has kept the ministry under his purview and appointed the Minister of Physical Infrastructure. However, in power sharing, this ministry is not a preferred choice for the leaders.

The province assembly members had also shown reluctance to take responsibility for this ministry in the Rajkumar Sharma-led government. Many have hesitated to accept the position due to the ministry's lack of functions.

The annual budget for this ministry is less than that of a single office within the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure. This financial year, the ministry has been allocated only 300 million.

Since the federal government  has not yet assigned the deployment of police to the ministry, it has not been able to accomplish much. In some ministries, the workload is excessive. For instance, the Ministry of Social Development is responsible for a wide array of areas, including education, health, labor employment, women and children, senior citizens, sports, population, sanitation, language, religion, and culture, encompassing 36 different offices.

Chief Minister Yamlal Kandel is preparing to restructure the ministries because some have minimal responsibilities while others are overloaded.

Before Congress joined the government, Chief Minister Kandel had initiated discussions on reviewing the division of work among ministries. However, Congress had advised that a decision be made only after the government expansion.

A Council of Ministers meeting held on Wednesday established a committee to study the responsibilities of various ministries. The committee will be led by Finance Minister Rajiv Bikram Shah and will operate according to the Provincial Government (Division of Work) Regulations, 074. Agriculture Minister Binod Kumar Shah and the Divisional Secretary of the Chief Minister's Office will also be members of the committee.

The committee will evaluate and submit a report to the Chief Minister based on the ministry's workload, nature of work, and scope. Karnali Province has eight ministries.

Chief Minister Kandel has now brought the issue forward. He told Ratopati that, although he had previously considered the need for restructuring, discussions are currently underway.

According to him, the discussions aim to create an environment for equitable work distribution by reallocating responsibilities from ministries with less work to those with heavier workloads.

Under the current structure, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forestry, and Environment, and the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development face various issues. For example, combining tourism and industry within the Ministry of Forestry is problematic. Forest employees also have to manage work related to industry and tourism. Conversely, the Ministry of Law has a relatively light workload.

An employee of the ministry commented, "The nature of industry, tourism, forestry, and environment does not align."

According to these employees, sports could be removed from the Ministry of Social Development, and transportation could be reassigned from Physical Infrastructure to Internal Affairs.

Chief Minister Kandel believes that adding responsibilities to less attractive ministries will enhance their appeal. He stated, "This is necessary, whether to implement it immediately or confirm it from all sides. Work will proceed once confirmed from all sides."

What do the parties say?

Former Social Development Minister and Chief Whip of the UML parliamentary party, Tekraj Pachai, asserts that restructuring the ministries is necessary.

Pachai told Ratopati, "There is a lot of emphasis on health in Social Development Ministry, while other areas are neglected. If we want to prioritize education, women, and children, they need to be transferred to other ministries."

He also mentioned that the transport sector is isolated because the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure also handles urban development. "The Ministry of Law could have been more effective if handling of the police had been assigned under it," he said.

Nepali Congress MP Bedraj Singh also maintains that restructuring should occur before the budget. He argued that it would be appropriate to identify and merge ministries based on needs prior to the budget, though doing so now may present challenges.

"With the budget and programs already in place and the spending process for the current fiscal year underway, how can restructuring be implemented?" Singh said. "First, there should be an agreement between the ruling parties."

Chief Whip of the main opposition party, CPN-Maoist, Krishna Bahadur GC, stated that the Ministry of Law is very important but has been neglected by the government. However, he believes that the government can adjust the work division as needed.

He added, "It is necessary to strengthen the ministry by adding responsibilities, but it should not collapse."