Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Bagmati Province Government has begun preparations to reduce the number of ministries as part of its cost-cutting and fiscal austerity measures.
The provincial government plans to bring down the number of ministries from the current 14 to seven.
The main opposition, CPN (Maoist Center), had recently submitted a memorandum to the provincial government, demanding a reduction in the number of ministries. Following that, a joint meeting of the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-UML parliamentary parties reached a consensus to downsize the ministries.
“After the ruling parties reached an agreement in principle to reduce the number of ministries, the government has already formed a committee to study the matter,” Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya said. “The committee is studying how many ministries should be retained, which ones to merge, and how to manage staff accordingly.”
Baniya said that since there is a political consensus among the parties, the government has already started the process to reach a concrete decision on reducing the ministries. He added that expenditure reduction and good governance are the key priorities of the province government.
“We are discussing the matter with political parties to build a common understanding and bring the process to a logical conclusion,” he said.
Baniya added that the decision to reduce ministries was primarily linked to administrative reform and financial discipline and will therefore be finalized through political consensus.
