Government to present plan to reduce ministries to 17 at Cabinet meeting

The government is in the final stages of an ambitious plan to reform the administration by reducing the number of ministries at the central level. A special outline concerning the merging and dissolution of ministries will be presented at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 10:30 this morning. Based on a report submitted by a task force led by Secretary Govind Bahadur Karki from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the government plans to limit the number of ministries to 17.

According to the proposed outline, four existing ministries will be dissolved, and the names and structures of six ministries will be changed. The Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation, Ministry of Urban Development, and Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration are set to be dissolved.

Various branches of these ministries will be merged into other ministries or brought under the Prime Minister’s Office, according to sources. Under the new structure, sports will be merged with education to form the Ministry of Education and Sports. Similarly, the sectors of women, children, senior citizens, youth, health, and social security will be integrated to create the Ministry of Gender Equality and Social Development. Water supply and urban development will be combined into the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, while the transport sector will be transferred to the Ministry of Labor.

The government appears to be concentrating power by placing some key departments and subjects directly under the Prime Minister’s Office. The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration will be entirely brought under the Prime Minister’s Office.

Additionally, areas such as poverty alleviation, information technology, and science and technology will also be managed by the Prime Minister’s Office. This move is part of the government’s hundred-day commitment and administrative reform plan.