KATHMANDU, Aug. 3: A proposal has been prepared allowing the Minister for Infrastructure Development to appoint 22 different types of advisers. Under the proposal drafted by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, the minister would be able to recruit advisers in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to sanitary engineering.
The proposal has been forwarded to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and will take effect once approved by the Cabinet.
According to ministry sources, the minister would be allowed to have up to 39 members in the secretariat, including 22 advisers.
The proposal provides for two senior expert advisers: one with the rank equivalent to a secretary and another equivalent to a joint secretary. They would advise on areas such as local infrastructure, suspension bridges, drinking water, and sewerage management.
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The minister would also be able to appoint four advisers with the rank of under-secretary to oversee roads, bridges, buildings, and housing.
In addition, the proposal allows for 16 advisers at the section officer level. Their areas of expertise would include highway infrastructure, architecture, structural engineering, sanitary engineering, environmental engineering, statistics, geomatics and surveying, forestry and climate change, public relations, media and press, administration, gender equality and social inclusion, geo-technology, geology, hydrology, and artificial intelligence.
Ministry Spokesperson Ramhari Pokharel said the ministry has completed its Organization and Management (ONM) survey and submitted it to the Cabinet for approval.
Under the proposed organizational structure, the ministry will have 11 divisions, each headed by a joint secretary, the same arrangement currently in place.
The proposal also seeks approval for 198 staff positions. Of them, 102 employees would work under the Administration Division, including one joint secretary, officers, deputy subba level officials, computer operators, accountants, legal officers, library assistants, office assistants, and light vehicle drivers.
The Ministry of Infrastructure Development was created by merging the former Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Urban Development, and the Ministry of Water Supply. The restructuring also reduces the number of secretary-level engineering posts from three to one.
Infrastructure Development Minister Sunil Lamsal has already appointed Santosh Pandey, an official with secretary-level status, to his secretariat.
Shrawan Pokharel, Director General of the National Personnel Records Office (Rastriya Kitabkhana), said 10 ministries have so far completed their ONM surveys and submitted them to the office. However, ONM surveys must first be endorsed by the Cabinet before they can be formally processed.
Since the Infrastructure Development Ministry's proposal is still awaiting Cabinet approval, it has not yet reached the National Personnel Records Office. Sources said the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has also completed its ONM survey and submitted it to the Cabinet for approval.
