Nepal Government Approves New Ministry Structure, Reducing Total to 18

Kathmandu. The number of ministries in the federal government has decreased after the Council of Ministers approved the 'Government of Nepal (Work Allocation) Regulations 2083'. Previously, there were 22 ministries including the Prime Minister's Office, but after the approval of the regulations, the number has been limited to 18, including the Prime Minister's Office.

Spokesperson Hemraj Aryal, Joint Secretary at the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Office, informed that the number of ministries, their revised names, and work allocation have been finalized after the Council of Ministers approved the regulations. The governance reform program publicized by the government led by RSP leader Balen Shah mentioned reducing the number of ministries.

'To solve the problem of increased operational expenses due to the excessive number of ministries, a decision was made to reduce the number of ministries within 30 days, amending the existing Government of Nepal (Work Allocation) Regulations to set the number of federal ministries at 17,' the government's agenda stated.

A task force was formed under the convenorship of Govinda Bahadur Karki, Secretary at the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Office, to merge and abolish ministries. This task force submitted a suggestion report to reduce the total number of ministries in the federal government, including the Prime Minister's Office, to just 18.

According to the proposed framework of the task force, four existing ministries will be abolished, and the names and structures of six ministries will be changed. Accordingly, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Urban Development, and Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration are proposed to be abolished and merged.

According to sources, under the new structure, sports will be merged with education to form the Ministry of Education and Sports, while women, children, senior citizens, youth, health, and social security will be integrated and named the Ministry of Gender Equality and Social Development.

Drinking water and urban development will be merged into physical infrastructure to form the Integrated Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, while the transport sector will be transferred to the Ministry of Labour. Sources indicate that the report suggests bringing the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration entirely under the Prime Minister's Office.

Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Aryal of the Prime Minister's Office stated that the new names for the abolished or merged ministries are yet to be finalized as homework is ongoing. 'That work is underway. The names of the new structure have not been finalized yet,' Aryal told Ratopati.