Kathmandu, March 28: The government is preparing for a broad restructuring of the administrative system. With a proposal to abolish around 550 government offices that have overlapping or duplicate mandates, it is estimated that approximately 22,000 staff positions will be cut.
The proposal, prepared by the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, is based on reports and recommendations from various task forces, commissions, and committees formed at different times. If implemented, it would result in the elimination of a large number of government structures at once.
According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office, details of offices that could potentially be abolished have already been submitted. Based on this, a governance reform roadmap has been prepared and recommendations have been made to the government for implementation. “The proposal aims to eliminate duplication, control expenditures, and speed up the decision-making process,” an undersecretary said.
The issue is also included in point number 14 of the government’s recently published “100-point Governance Reform Agenda.” It mentions preparing and approving national standards within 15 days for organizational and management surveys across federal, provincial, and local levels. Based on this, a policy has been proposed to merge or abolish offices with similar functions and overlapping responsibilities.
In the past, various governments had announced plans to abolish ineffective institutions and offices that added unnecessary financial burdens, but those decisions were never implemented. This time, however, a clear roadmap has reportedly been prepared for execution.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, recommendations include reducing unnecessary staffing at division and department levels, abolishing irrelevant institutions, development committees, boards, and commissions, and transferring some federal structures to provincial and local levels.
A 2076 BS (2019/20) report by the High-Level Administrative Reform Implementation and Monitoring Committee had also recommended abolishing temporary structures and agencies with overlapping mandates. It noted that such structures increase administrative costs, delay decision-making, encourage shirking of responsibility, and create organizational conflicts.
Similarly, a 2075 BS (2018/19) Public Expenditure Review Commission report pointed out that having two or more agencies handling the same tasks unnecessarily increases state expenses, recommending their merger or abolition. It found that several committees, councils, and boards formed under laws related to development boards and committees lacked clear mandates and had overlapping roles.
The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party had also committed in its election manifesto to implement such recommendations to reform institutions and reduce government spending. Experts estimate that implementing these recommendations could save more than NPR 100 billion annually.
Offices that may be abolished
The list of potentially scrapped entities includes the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, Local Development Training Academy, a proposal to merge various commissions into a unified Inclusive Commission, the Remote Area Development Committee, the Neglected, Oppressed and Dalit Class Upliftment Development Committee, district election offices in all 77 districts, District Education Coordination Units, and District Coordination Committees.
Similarly, provincial-level bodies operating in parallel with federal structures—such as Provincial Sports Councils and Provincial Youth Councils—are also under consideration for restructuring.
Despite previous recommendations to abolish or merge them, several agencies continue to operate, contributing to rising government expenditure. These include the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, Industrial Enterprise Development Institute, Cotton Development Committee, Dairy Development Board, National Youth Council, Road Board, Press Council, Minimum Wage Fixation Committee, and Taragaun Development Committee, all of which have been suggested for review.
The Industrial Enterprise Development Institute is currently being used to provide concessional loans to startup enterprises. Likewise, there is a proposal to merge the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee with Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company Limited.
Past reports have also suggested integrating institutions under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology—such as the Radio Broadcasting Service Development Committee, Nepal Television, and Gorkhapatra Corporation—into a unified Communication Authority.
Additionally, the reports recommend reconsidering the structure and relevance of the National Dalit Commission and the National Muslim Commission, which were established through executive decisions prior to the promulgation of the constitution.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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