How Many Ministries Will Be in Balen Shah’s Government?

March 26, Kathmandu – Following the appointment of the new Prime Minister, the government has begun preparations to reduce the number of ministries. The secretariat close to Balen Shah, who is set to take the oath as Prime Minister today, is planning to merge several ministries.

According to the organizational structure rules issued on July 26, 2018, there are currently 21 ministries in Nepal. Including the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers’ Office, the number rises to 22.

However, the new government plans to limit the number of ministries to between 15 and 18. The political manifesto of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (Rasuwa) states that the number of ministries should not exceed 18. Therefore, at least five existing ministries will have to be merged with others.

Sources close to Balen Shah’s secretariat say that preparations are underway with an aim to keep the number of ministries as low as possible.

In this process, the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers’ Office has provided some previous reports and documents to Balen’s team for their convenience. Based on these, a small team including Balen and some leaders from Rasuwa are working on restructuring the ministries.

According to sources, discussions are ongoing regarding the merger of the Ministry of Water Supply, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Ministry of Urban Development into other ministries.

Discussion to Eliminate the Ministry of General Administration

There are also talks about abolishing the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. The plan under consideration is to place the General Administration, which manages personnel administration, under the Prime Minister’s Office while bringing federal affairs under the Ministry of Law.

Several earlier studies have suggested that personnel management handled by the Ministry of General Administration could be transferred to a department within the Prime Minister’s Office.

There is also preparatory work underway to merge ministries related to infrastructure: potentially combining the Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply with the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. Likewise, discussions continue about merging the Ministry of Youth and Sports with the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens to form a single ministry.

When the government led by Sushila Karki was formed, preparations to reduce ministries had already begun. However, as that government was focused on conducting elections, the plan to cut ministries was postponed.

Now, the upcoming Balen government will need to officially decide on the reduction of ministries during a cabinet meeting. Only after the cabinet approves amendments to the government’s organizational structure rules will the exact number and responsibilities of ministries be finalized.