Govt Publishes Draft ‘National Commitment’ for Feedback

The government on Tuesday, April 14, published a draft of its “National Commitment” document, prepared by synthesising the election manifestos and pledges of six nationally recognised political parties in the House of Representatives.

The 18-point draft has been uploaded on the website of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) for feedback. The government has asked the political parties to submit their suggestions by April 23.

According to a notice issued by the OPMCM, the draft draws on the manifestos and commitments of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Nepal Communist Party, Shram Sanskriti Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party.

The move follows the government’s 100-point governance reform agenda unveiled on March 28, a day after the first Cabinet meeting. The “National Commitment” has been prepared in line with the third point of that agenda, which mentions synthesising implementable elements of party manifestos in line with the spirit of the Constitution, with the aim of strengthening democratic governance and institutionalising the electoral mandate. It also envisions linking the commitments with annual policies, programmes, budgets and reform agendas, alongside the creation of a dedicated implementation mechanism under the OPMCM.

The draft outlines key priority areas including economic stability and reform, agricultural modernisation and self-reliance, tourism and civil aviation, energy development, mining and minerals, infrastructure, employment generation, education and health, as well as forests, environment and climate change.

Many of the proposed commitments reflect pledges made by the RSP in its manifesto. These include raising per capita income to $3,000 and expanding the economy to nearly $100 billion within five years through an average annual growth rate of 7 percent. Other proposals include increasing installed electricity capacity to 30,000 MW in a decade through legal reforms, investigating the assets of individuals who have held public office since the restoration of democracy in 1990, and reducing the number of federal ministries to 17.

Additional focus areas include administrative reform and service delivery, e-governance and technology, social justice and inclusion, international diplomacy and foreign relations, mobilisation of the Nepali diaspora’s knowledge and capital, sports, disaster management, and cooperatives and microfinance.