Government Forms High-Level Committee to Implement Structural Reform Recommendations

The government has formed a high-level committee under the leadership of Chudamani Paudel, Secretary of the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister's Office, to implement recommendations on merging, abolishing, or transferring redundant government offices. The committee will also work on reducing public expenditure based on suggestions from the Dilliraj Khanal-led commission.

Paudel, who oversees governance reforms, has been given the responsibility to assess which government offices should be merged, closed, or delegated to provincial and local levels. This initiative follows several past attempts at administrative restructuring, which failed to deliver expected results. Despite the formation of the committee, concerns remain about whether its recommendations will be effectively implemented.

The Khanal Commission had suggested limiting central ministries to 16 and departments to 35. It proposed merging the Ministry of Water Supply with the Ministry of Energy and integrating certain federal ministries with the Ministry of Law. The commission also recommended reducing government staff and transferring responsibilities to local and provincial levels.

It further advised dissolving or merging various boards and committees, including the National Dairy Development Board, Cotton Development Committee, and National Tea and Coffee Development Board. Other proposed changes included turning the National Planning Commission into a Federal Planning Commission, merging the National Sports Council with Nepal Scouts, and integrating the Janak Education Materials Center with the Printing Department.

The commission also suggested removing the Department of Local Infrastructure Development from the federal government. While the newly formed committee has begun its work, its success will depend on the government’s commitment to executing these reforms.