KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 8
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has finally expanded his cabinet, almost three months after he assumed office following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The coalition cabinet which had previously inducted members from Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Center, is now joined by CPN-Unified Socialist and Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal.
PM Deuba, in a bid to accommodate the new ministers, has also reshuffled the portfolios of some ministers in his cabinet.
Gyandendra Bahadur Karki has been shifted to Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs while state minister for health Umesh Shrestha will has been assigned the duty of Minister of State for Industry, Commerce and Supplies ministry.
From the Nepali Congress, Dilendra Badu will be the Minister of Law, Uma Regmi Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Minendra Rijal Minister of Defense and Umakanta Chaudhary Minister of Drinking Water.
Similarly, CPN-Maoist Center’s Shashi Shrestha will assume responsibility as Minister for Land Management, Devendra Paudel Minister of Education, Science and Technology and Maheshwar Gahatraj will be the Minister of Youth and Sports.
Likewise, from the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Renu Yadav has been appointed the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Rajendra Shrestha Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Ram Sahay Yadav Minister for Forests and Environment and Pramod Sah the Miister for Agriculture and Livestock.
Lastly, from the newly formed CPN-Unified Socialist, Ram Kumari Jhankri will be the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Birodh Khatiwada will be the Minister of Health and Population, Kisan Shrestha Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security and Prem Ale Minister of Urban Development.
Bhawani Khapung from CPN-US will be Minister of State for Health and Population while JSPn’s Bodhmaya Kumari Yadav will the State Minister for Education, Science and Technology.
Meanwhile, Gajendra Hamal has been appointed the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
NC’s Balkrishna Khand (Home), Narayan Khadka (Foreign Affairs), Gyandendra Bahadur Karki (Communication and Information); and CPN-MC’s Janardan Sharma (Finance) and Pampha Bhusal (Energy) were previously appointed ministers in the incumbent government.