Fiscal Nepal
First Business News Portal in English from Nepal
KATHMANDU: The government has unveiled an ambitious governance reform plan that significantly expands the authority of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), positioning it as the central command structure for policy-making, implementation, monitoring, anti-corruption efforts, and even constitutional reform processes.
The move is part of the government’s 100-point reform agenda and signals a strategic shift toward centralized, results-driven governance aimed at improving efficiency, accountability, and delivery across Nepal’s administrative system.
Under the new framework, critical political and administrative functions—including corruption control, asset investigation of public officials, and leadership of constitutional amendment debates—will be directly overseen by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Officials say the الهدف is to eliminate fragmentation in governance, reduce bureaucratic delays, and ensure stronger coordination across ministries and agencies.
If fully implemented, the reform will expand the Prime Minister’s Office role across four core pillars:
The reform agenda identifies the current number of ministries as excessive and a contributor to rising recurrent expenditure. Within 30 days, the government plans to amend the existing rules to cap the number of federal ministries at 17.
To manage the transition, a dedicated Restructuring Management Secretariat will be established under the Prime Minister’s Office. This unit will oversee:
The government will also review and potentially abolish boards, committees, and institutions deemed unproductive, duplicative, or financially burdensome.
A high-level task force comprising representatives from:
will submit recommendations within one month on restructuring or merging such entities.
A key reform introduces a results-based governance model, requiring each ministry to submit a 7-day action plan outlining:
Monthly progress reports will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, which will conduct regular monitoring, evaluation, and public reporting.
This effectively positions the OPMCM as a central performance controller, directly tracking ministry outputs and enforcing accountability.
To institutionalize performance tracking, the government will establish a Prime Minister Delivery Unit within the OPMCM.
Modeled after delivery units in countries like the UK and India, the unit will:
This marks a significant shift toward data-driven governance and real-time decision-making.
The Prime Minister’s Office will also take an active role in accelerating stalled and underperforming development projects.
Key reforms include:
For large-scale and national pride projects, the OPMCM will directly monitor implementation and resolve bottlenecks, aiming to reduce chronic delays that have plagued infrastructure development.
In a major restructuring of Nepal’s digital ecosystem, all IT and e-governance functions will be centralized under the Prime Minister’s Office.
The existing Department of Information Technology will be dissolved and replaced by a new Information Technology and E-Governance Office under the OPMCM.
This new body will address:
The reform also envisions expanded use of digital identity systems, including integration of national ID, biometric verification, and e-signatures for public services.
A powerful Asset Investigation Committee will be formed under the Prime Minister’s Office within 15 days, tasked with probing the wealth of public officials.
This body will operate alongside existing institutions such as the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and the Department of Money Laundering Investigation, but with broader coordination authority and strategic oversight.
The investigation will proceed in two phases:
The committee will have powers to:
This could bring former prime ministers, ministers, bureaucrats, and constitutional office holders under scrutiny.
While the reforms are framed as governance improvements, analysts note potential political implications.
Centralizing asset investigations and oversight functions under the Prime Minister’s Office could:
At the same time, the government argues that the reforms are necessary to break long-standing patterns of corruption and impunity.
In a significant политical shift, the Prime Minister’s Office will also lead discussions on constitutional amendments.
A task force will be formed within seven days to prepare a “Constitution Amendment Discussion Paper”, aimed at building national consensus on electoral reforms and institutional restructuring.
This approach centralizes even legislative agenda-setting within the executive, raising questions about the role of Parliament in future reform processes.
The reform agenda also includes creating a “National Commitment Framework” by synthesizing election manifestos of multiple political parties and integrating them into government policy, budget, and programs.
This signals a move toward multi-party policy integration, but with execution centralized under the Prime Minister’s Office.
Government officials describe the overarching purpose of these reforms as:
If successfully implemented, the reforms could redefine how Nepal’s state machinery functions—transforming the Prime Minister’s Office into a powerful nerve center overseeing nearly all aspects of governance.
However, the scale of centralization also raises critical questions about institutional balance, execution capacity, and long-term democratic implications as Nepal moves toward a more centralized administrative model.
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