Hetaunda The government of Bagmati Province has carried out extensive restructuring in the structure of ministries and subordinate offices with the aim of reducing administrative expenses and making service delivery more efficient.
The meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Thursday decided to limit the administrative structure of the province to 8 ministries and 191 offices with effect from the 1st of July. Earlier, the provincial government has reduced the number of ministries from 14 to 8 and now the number of offices has been reduced from 201 to 191.
According to Prabhat Tamang, spokesperson of the provincial government and Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning, the restructuring was done based on the recommendations of the Organization and Management Survey Committee. The government has decided to remove dual nature and temporary offices, merge offices of similar nature and establish some new structures as needed. It is expected that the cost of house rent, vehicle, fuel and staff management will decrease significantly.
The provincial government estimates that this restructuring will save about 5 billion rupees towards annual running costs. The government believes that the amount saved can be spent on development and construction and people-oriented programs.
According to the new structure, the province will now have the offices of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Law and Cooperatives, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning, Ministry of Water, Energy and Irrigation, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Environment, Ministry of Health and Social Development and Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Labor and Transport.
In terms of office structure, maximum 60 offices will be under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Environment, while 53 offices will be under the Ministry of Health and Social Development.
There will be 27 offices under the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Labor and Transport and 20 under the Ministry of Water Supply, Energy and Irrigation. Similarly, the Directorate of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare has been abolished and the name of the Directorate of Transport Infrastructure has been changed to ‘Directorate of Infrastructure Development’.