The government has decided to reduce the number of federal ministries from 22 to 18 to uphold administrative reforms and fiscal prudence. The Cabinet approved the “Nepal Government (Allocation of Business) Regulation, 2083,” revising the division of responsibilities and renaming ministries. Ministries of Education, Sports, Communication, Youth, Labor, Women, Health, Infrastructure, and Agriculture have been merged to form new ministries. Kathmandu, 30th Baishakh.
The government’s primary goals are to implement administrative reforms, maintain expenditure cuts, reduce unnecessary current spending, and make performance more effective and streamlined. While decreasing the number of ministries, the Cabinet has retained the Ministries of Finance, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs unchanged. The Ministries of Industry, Commerce and Supply; Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; and Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation also remain as before.
Prioritizing technology and innovation, a separate Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation has been established by separating science and technology-related departments from the former Ministry of Education to oversee new innovation-related tasks. There have been extensive changes in the division of other ministries, with ministries of similar nature consolidated. Going forward, the ministries will include Education and Sports; Communication; Youth, Labor and Employment; and Land, Cooperative and Human Resource.
The government had proposed reviewing the number of ministries under its “100-Point Administrative Reform Agenda.” Based on a report submitted by the “Restructuring Management Secretariat,” coordinated by Secretary Govinda Bahadur Karki, the division of responsibilities, renaming, and consolidation of ministries were implemented, according to Dahal. The government stated that this step was taken to address the problem of increased current expenditure due to an excessive number of ministries and to make the state machinery more efficient.
