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Kathmandu,Wednesday April 19, 2000 Baishakh 07, 2057.
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Ministries cut down to 21
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, April 18 - The government today reshuffled the cabinet where by
the number of ministries has been reduced to 21. No new members have been added or
dismissed from the cabinet.
According to a press communique issued by the Principal Press Secretariat of
His Majesty the King, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will head the Ministries of
Women, Children and Social Welfare, Defence, Labour and Transportation Management and
General Administration.
Khum Bahadur Khadka will now be the Minister for Water Resources and Physical
Planning and Works.
The three different ministries of Industry, Commerce and Supply has been
merged into one and Ram Krishna Tamrakar will be the Minister for Industry, Commerce and
Supply. Narendra Bikram Nemwang will be the minister of state in the ministry.
The Women and Social Welfare Ministry has been converted to Ministry of
Women, Children and Social Welfare. Prime Minster Koirala will continue to hold the
portfolio while Kamala Pant will continue to be the minister of state.
The Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports has been scraped. The Ministry of
Tourism and Civil Aviation has been given additional responsibility and new ministry will
be Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry which will continue to be headed by Tarini
Dutta Chataut.
The Ministry of Education will now be Ministry of Education and Sports and
Amod Prasad Upadhaya will continue to be the minister. Dilendra Prasad Badhu will be the
minister of state. Minister for Law and Justice Mahanta Thakur will have additional
responsibility of Parliamentary Affairs.
The ministry of Agriculture will now be the Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperative. Baldev Sharma Majgaiya will be the Minister of State.
Though the reforms have been based on the recommendations made by the
Administrative Reforms Committee which has recommended ministries be reduced to 18, the
number has been fixed 21 for now as the Ministries like the Women and Social Welfare,
Science and Technology could not be scrapped due to their importance in the present
context.
"This is temporary adjustment made to comply with the reduction in the
number of ministries. The prime minister will soon reshuffle the cabinet to bring in new
faces. The number could be increased from the present 25 to at least 32," said a
source close to Koirala speaking on condition of anonymity.
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