Kathmandu – The government has organized the structure of personal secretariat and advisory group to make the performance of ministers effective, result-oriented and thematic-focused.
As per the decision of the Council of Ministers on April 15, arrangements have been made to have a limited number of advisors and necessary employees based on the scope and workload of the ministry concerned.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment can appoint a maximum of five advisors, including one salaried person of the special class of the Government of Nepal. Other ministries can have a maximum of three advisors, including one salaried person.
According to Deepa Dahal, press and research expert of Prime Minister Balendra Shah, this arrangement has been made with the aim of utilizing thematic expertise in ministries that require development construction, infrastructure expansion and multidimensional coordination. Out of the five people who can be appointed in those ministries, only one will be salaried and the rest of the advisors will be unpaid, which will not impose any additional financial burden, she said.
“The government’s objective is not to increase the state’s financial liability, but to increase the speed and quality of work by providing necessary expertise to ministries of a complex nature,” Dahal said.
There is a provision for the personal secretariat of the minister and minister of state to have a chief personal secretary, a personal secretary, a coordination, implementation and monitoring officer and a communication and public relations assistant. There is also a provision for the personal secretariat to have an assistant level staff, two light vehicle drivers and two office assistants.
Accordingly, the chief personal secretary will be equivalent to a gazetted second class, while the personal secretary and coordination, implementation and monitoring officer will be equivalent to a gazetted third class. There is an arrangement for communication and public relations assistants and assistant-level employees to be equivalent to a gazetted first class.
According to Dahal, the arrangement is expected to make the policy formulation, program implementation, inter-agency coordination, public communication and monitoring of the ministries more organized.
