Kathmandu, March 14: As talks on forming a new government continue, attention has turned to how many ministries the new administration will keep.
The constitution allows a cabinet of up to 25 members. Nepal now has 22 ministries. In earlier governments, the remaining three slots were often filled by appointing state ministers.
The interim government had taken a different route. It kept the cabinet below 15 members by assigning more than one ministry to a single minister.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has pledged in its manifesto to limit ministries to 18. If the party sticks to this commitment, four of the current ministries must be merged with others. This has raised interest about how the party will handle the restructuring.
So far, the party has not held any formal discussion on which ministries should be merged. Party leader Ganesh Parajuli says the issue has yet to reach the party’s formal decision-making bodies.
“We formed a committee led by Vice President Swarnim Wagle to prepare the manifesto. The party later adopted that document and turned it into a 100-point commitment,” Parajuli said. “Our plan to keep ministries at 18 will be implemented, but the management of ministries has not yet been discussed formally.”
A member of the secretariat of Balen Shah says the plan may not be easy to apply immediately.
“Managing ministries according to the team is difficult at the moment. There are many aspirants. Because of that, I do not think the number will drop right away,” the member said. The source added that a Balen led government would face pressure to show results, and sudden cuts could affect performance.
Restructuring ministries is also complicated because many of them have overlapping duties. Ministries such as Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Finance, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Communication have clear roles. Others share related areas.
For instance, energy, water resources, irrigation, and agriculture are closely linked. There are also overlaps between drinking water and water resource management. The ministries of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development handle projects of a similar nature.
Some ministries combine unrelated areas. The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation is one example. The Ministry of Forests and Environment has already transferred many responsibilities to provincial governments.
There are also coordination issues. Labour migration is handled by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, while industrial policy falls under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
Economist Dilli Raj Khanal says the current number of ministries is not always effective. He says ministries with related duties could be merged so the government can function with fewer ministries while improving efficiency.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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