KATHMANDU, May 16: The government has brought the National Investigation Department (NID) back under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers through the Government of Nepal (Allocation of Business) Regulations 2026. The agency had previously been operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Often described as the country’s core intelligence body, the NID is responsible for collecting sensitive information related to national security, crime control and governance. The latest decision places it once again under direct oversight of the prime minister’s office, giving the executive closer access to intelligence reports.
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This is not the first time the agency has been moved. In 2018, then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli shifted the NID from the Home Ministry to the Prime Minister’s Office. It was later returned to the Home Ministry after Sushila Karki assumed office following the Gen Z movement. Now, it has once again been placed under the PMO under Prime Minister Balendra Shah.
The repeated transfers highlight how the agency’s administrative control has shifted with changing political leadership. Analysts say this back-and-forth restructuring has raised concerns over the institution’s long-term stability and professional continuity.
While earlier governments had pledged to modernize the intelligence service into a more efficient institution, critics argue those reforms largely remained incomplete.
With the latest move, intelligence reporting will now flow directly to the prime minister, further centralizing control over sensitive national security information.
