KATHMANDU, July 2: The government’s plan to introduce 45 key bills in the federal parliament during the current fiscal year (FY 2025/26) has hit a roadblock, with none of the bills yet registered at the Parliament Secretariat.
The delay comes despite Prime Minister Balendra Shah and Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Sobita Gautam directing officials in the third week of April to finalize the drafts within a week, saying the bills were “immediately necessary for the government to function.” The process, however, remains entangled in lengthy administrative and legal procedures.
The bills were identified as crucial for implementing the “100-point agenda for governance reform” announced by the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Shah on March 27. However, despite the government enjoying a comfortable two-thirds majority in Parliament, the bills have failed to make it to the legislature even after the budget session, highlighting delays in policy implementation.
A senior official at the Ministry of Law said the delay was mainly due to late submission of drafts by concerned ministries and the ministry’s limited capacity to review and finalize such a large number of bills.
“Despite this, some bills have been prioritized. They will be registered by mid-July, and some are already in the process of being tabled in Parliament,” the official said.
The official added that the bills related to the domestic air service liability, child labour regulation, amendment to the Passport Act 2076 BS, and mediation-related laws would soon be registered in Parliament.
Meanwhile, the government has already registered two bills outside the 45 priority bills. They include the National Cadet Corps Bill 2083 BS and a bill seeking to revive previous provisions of the Nepal Special Service Act 2042 BS.
Parliament passes only 12 bills so far
Analysts say that if the government continues pushing other bills ahead of the priority legislation, it may resort to ordinances to move forward its agenda. One analyst said the government could be attempting to bring major issues through ordinances while sending less significant bills to Parliament.
The House of Representatives has currently completed discussions on budget-related dependent bills, which have also been approved by the National Assembly. Four replacement bills are scheduled to be passed on Thursday. After that, parliamentary proceedings will continue based on the bills registered by the government, according to officials at the Parliament Secretariat.
The official said the government now needs to bring dozens of bills to Parliament to ensure regular parliamentary business.
The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs is currently reviewing drafts of 45 bills, including two bills under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The Public Procurement Act 2063 BS amendment bill and the Constitutional Council (Functions, Duties, Powers and Procedures) Act amendment bill, considered important for governance reform, were introduced through ordinances. However, the validity of the ordinances expires on July 10.
The Public Procurement Act amendment ordinance has already been approved by Parliament and replaced with a bill, while the Constitutional Council ordinance is yet to be tabled.
The Law Ministry has 10 bills under its jurisdiction. Despite carrying the highest workload, most of the drafts remain in the internal preparation stage.
The Ministry of Finance has three bills considered important for financial sector reform: amendment bills to the Nepal Rastra Bank Act 2058 BS, Employees Provident Fund Act 2019 BS, and Citizen Investment Trust Act 2047 BS.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has three pending bills. Two major bills aimed at restructuring the aviation sector to help Nepal exit the European Union (EU) blacklist—the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Bill 2082 BS and the Nepal Air Service Authority Bill 2082 BS—along with the Domestic Air Service Operating Organization Liability and Insurance Bill, remain pending.
The ministries of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs have one bill each. The Home Ministry has prepared a draft bill to amend and consolidate immigration-related laws, while the Foreign Ministry has prepared the draft amendment bill to the Passport Act.
The Ministry of Information and Communications has two bills aimed at addressing rising cybercrime and digital governance issues: the Information Technology Bill and the Cyber Security Bill.
The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure has four bills, including the Road Safety Bill aimed at reducing road accidents, the Vehicle and Transport Management Bill, the Diploma Engineering Council Formation Bill, and the bill to amend the Water Supply and Sanitation Act 2079 BS.
The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration has two bills, including the long-awaited Federal Civil Service Bill related to the formation, operation and service conditions of federal civil servants, and the amendment bill to the Local Government Operation Act 2074 BS.
Other pending drafts include two bills from the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation—the Water Resources Bill and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Bill.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment has three agriculture-related bills: the Agriculture Bill, Infectious Animal Disease Control Bill, and the bill to amend the Animal Health and Animal Services Act 2055 BS. It also has two forestry-related bills—the amendment bills to the Environment Protection Act 2076 BS and the Forest Act 2076 BS.
The Ministry of Health and Food Safety is preparing the Ramarajaprasad Singh Health Science Academy Bill, while the Ministry of Urban Development is preparing drafts of the Waste Management Bill and the bill to amend and consolidate laws related to the Town Development Fund.
The Ministry of Youth, Labour and Employment has prepared drafts of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Bill and the Foreign Employment (First Amendment) Bill.
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has prepared the draft of the Export-Import Bill.
The Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities and Social Security has prepared the draft amendment bill to the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2064 BS.
Under the existing legal process, once a draft is prepared, it must be placed on the concerned ministry’s website for at least seven days to collect public feedback. It then requires approval from the Law Ministry and Finance Ministry before being discussed by the Cabinet’s Bill Committee and finally sent to Parliament.
Even after procedures were relaxed to allow inactive bills to be directly taken to the Cabinet, the failure of ministry secretaries and legal officials to prepare final drafts on time has raised questions over the government’s pace of “delivery.”
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