A meeting of government secretaries held on Bhadra 1, 2083 reviewed progress on decisions from previous secretary meetings and the annual implementation of ministry and agency work plans for fiscal year 2082/83. All ministries and agencies have been instructed to give high priority to implementing secretary-level decisions and submit monthly progress reports to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) by the 27th of each month. They were also directed to ensure that activities and milestones under the current fiscal year 2083/84 are completed within the prescribed timelines and to pursue reforms in areas where citizens should experience immediate improvements in public services.

The meeting placed particular emphasis on Nepal’s efforts to address Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements and exit the grey list. Ministries, agencies and regulatory bodies concerned were instructed to implement the relevant action plan effectively and on schedule, maintain continuous coordination and provide necessary data and information for monitoring. The OPMCM is to strengthen monitoring of the action plan’s progress. The meeting also called for regular reviews of governance-reform guidelines, directives and procedures, stressing that reforms should produce results in service delivery, development management, transparency, accountability, digital implementation and the effectiveness of public spending, rather than remain limited to procedural compliance.

Other decisions include resolving policy or administrative problems through inter-ministerial coordination and referring unresolved matters to the OPMCM, accelerating activities under fiscal year 2083/84’s “Law Reform Year”, and submitting information needed for the government’s annual report under Article 53 of the Constitution by Bhadra 8. Ministries and agencies were also instructed to immediately begin public procurement procedures for programmes and projects covered by the government’s “Zero-Day Procurement Policy” where procurement had not yet started. Preparations were additionally ordered for the Civil Service Day programme to be observed on Bhadra 22.