Kathmandu, May 20

After more than four months of planning, the main opposition Nepali Congress today constituted a shadow government to monitor works of the government and its ministries.

NC President and Parliamentary Party Leader Sher Bahadur Deuba formed 21 ministerial-level coordination committees as per Section 9 (5A) of the NC Statute. The committees will function as shadow cabinet, while the coordinator of each committee will function as a shadow minister.

Shadow government is a feature of the Westminster system of government. It consists of opposition lawmakers who, led by the leader of the opposition, form an alternative Cabinet to that of the government.

Members of the shadow Cabinet, often termed shadow ministers, mirror positions of each member of the Cabinet. It is the shadow Cabinet’s responsibility to scrutinise policies and actions of the government, as well as to offer an alternative programme.

The concept is not new in Nepal. Communist parties have formed shadow governments in the past when they were in opposition.

NC Chief Whip Bal Krishna Khand said they deemed necessary the formation of the shadow government as the government was moving ahead flouting the system and process.

According to Khand, the government has failed to effectively deliver services to people, maintain peace and security and carry out development works. On the other hand, it is coming up with bills, including Media Council Bill, National Human Rights Commission Bill and National Security Bill, which contradict the constitution.

“All these government activities call for generating public pressure,” said Khand. “And, the shadow government will work to generate that public pressure by bringing to the fore corrupt activities in respective ministries by conducting micro-monitoring.”

With the formation of the shadow government, Khand said the NC expected a creative support from the government and ministries and that the latter would not be stingy in furnishing any information sought by shadow ministries in line with the right to information.

The ruling Nepal Communist Party  (NCP) welcomed the NC’s move and expressed commitment to extend every possible support to the shadow government.

NCP Parliamentary Party Deputy Leader Subash Chandra Nembang said his party and the government respected the opposition as an integral part of the state and a government-in-waiting.

“We are happy to see the NC taking initiatives to make its role effective as an opposition, and we are ready to extend every support,” said Nembang.

SHADOW CABINET

Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation

• Gyanendra Bahadur Karki (coordinator)
• Satya Narayan Khanal
• Gyan Kumari Chanthyal

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• Narayan Khadka (coordinator)
• Amresh Kumar Singh
• Divya Mani Rajbhandari

Ministry of Finance

• Minendra Rijal (coordinator)
• Mina Pandey
• Binod Kumar Chaudhary

Ministry of Home Affairs

• Dilendra Prasad Badu (coordinator)
• Ramesh Jung Rayamajhi
• Mahendra Kumari Limbu

Ministry of Urban Development

• Umakanta Chaudhary (coordinator)
• Minakshi Jha
• Ram Bahadur Bista

Ministry of Youth and Sports

• Kishore Singh Rathour (coordinator)
• Rangamati Shahi
• Durga Prasad Upadhyaya

Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies

• Min Bahadur Bishwakarma (coordinator)
• Binda Devi Ale Rana
• Karma Ghale

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

• Gagan Kumar Thapa (coordinator)
• Umesh Shrestha
• Namita Kumari Chaudhary

Ministry of Water Supply

• Sujata Pariyar (coordinator)
• Mina Subba
• Nagendra Kumar Rai

Ministry of Health and Population

• Parvati DC Chaudhari (coordinator)
• Sitaram Mahato
• Mohan Acharya

Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation

• Devendra Raj Kandel (coordinator)
• Prakash Snehi Rasaili
• Pramila Rai

Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security

• Dila Sangroula Panta (coordinator)
• Prakash Pantha

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

• Bahadur Singh Lama (coordinator)
• Surya Bahadur KC
• Bimala Nepali

Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation

• Laxmi Pariyar (coordinator)
• Pramod Kumar Yadav
• Smriti Narayan Chaudhary

Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration

• Atahar Kamal Musalman (coordinator)
• Teju Lal Chaudhary
• Dhan Kumari Khatiwada

Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock

• Padma Narayan Chaudhary (coordinator)
• Anita Devkota
• Saravat Aara Khanam Haluwaini

Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens

• Uma Regmi (coordinator)
• Lal Kaji Gurung
• Hira Gurung

Ministry of Defence

• Bhimsen Das Pradhan (coordinator)
• Abhishek Pratap Shah

Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport

• Sanjaya Kumar Gautam (coordinator)
• Jip Tsering Lama
• Dev Prasad Timilsena

Ministry of Forest and Environment

• Rajendra Kumar KC (coordinator)
• Mukta Kumari Yadav

Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs

• Radheshyam Adhikari (coordinator)