Kathmandu, July 11

Eighteen ministries presented their progress reports for fiscal 2018-19 to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli during the government’s performance review meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers today.

The ministries making their presentation included Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure and Transportation, Agricultural and Livestock Development, Urban Development, Water Supply, Communication and Information Technology; Culture,Tourism and Civil Aviation; Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.

Other ministries presenting their progress reports were Education, Science and Technology; Health and Population; Women, Children and Senior Citizen; Youth and Sports; Federal Affairs and General Administration; Foreign Affairs; Defence, and Home Affairs.

Spokesperson for the OPMCM Binod Bahadur Kunwar said rest of the ministries, including Finance; Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Labour, Employment and Social Security, as well as National Planning Commission and National Reconstruction Authority will present their reports tomorrow.

According to Minister of Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota, the meeting discussed targets of the ministries and their achievements during the ongoing fiscal year. “Targets for the upcoming fiscal year will be set on the basis of the outcome of this meeting,” he told THT.  Baskota also said PM Oli would give necessary directions to the ministries at the end of the meeting, tomorrow.

The review meeting comes at a time when the government and its ministries are facing wide criticism for their failure to deliver services. The government has also been surrounded by various controversies, with the latest one regarding its decision to revoke lab test of imported fruits and vegetables for pesticides, at border points.

There have been speculations that PM Oli is not happy with the performance of its ministers and that he is considering a cabinet reshuffle after the performance review meeting. Oli’s displeasure over the performance of the government is also manifested by his comments at public functions. He said at a programme today that he was not informed about a letter from the Indian embassy, requesting the Government of Nepal to roll back its decision to lab-test on imported fruits and vegetables at border points.

A government secretary present in today’s meeting said almost all ministries in their presentations showed good progress, and PM Oli was not as disappointed as he observed the presentation. “How he felt will be known at the end of the meeting when he issues directives to ministries tomorrow,” the secretary said.