•

Readers are well aware that wt have been publishing

Foreign Advisor 's reports since last several years. This time,
we huve the pleasure of presenting Buch Commission's Report
to our readers in three consecutive serials. This report
was written some 25 years ago and consequently in our
present day administrative context, it has become almost
a historical document. Naturally the descriptions and data
ennumerated in the report have relatively very little bearing
in the present day administrative set up in Nepal. Nevertheless,
we hope, the readers and scholars will find this report not
only interesting but also significant by way of study of the
comparative development of Nepalese Public Administration
over the last two and half decades.
-Editors
 •

Buch

Com m ission 's

Repo rt •

( First Serial )

.. . -. ... - _......._ .. --
 l
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY

In April 1952 the Prime Minister of Nepal in a letter to the Prime

M inister of India asked for the loan of the services of a team of officials
from India. A request was made to spare 7 officers of Under or Deputy
Secretary status, 27 Assistants, and S stenographers for the Central
Secretariat, and 3 Commissioners, 3 Deputy Inspectors General of Police,
1 6 District o fficers, l6 Head Clerk , 16 Assistants. 32 Supervisors, 1 6
Superintendents of Police, 1 6 Inspectors and 1 6 Clerks for the districts.
Two District and Sessions Judges and Registrar or a Deputy Registrar
from a State High Court were also required. In addi tion, teams of officials
were asked for the departments of Jails, Forests, Posts & Telegraphs ,
Industries & Commerce , Customs, Income-tax, Food & Civil Suppl ies ,
Wireless and Telephones. After a discussion of these proposals with the
Prime Minister and other Ministers of Ne pal during their visit to Delhi,
the Governments of India and Nepal decided that a small committee o f
experts 'ihould be appointed to study the present organization at the
Centre and District He'ldquarters in Nepal, and make recommendations
for reorganisation. A Committee consistmg of the fol lo .viog was therefore
appointed :-
1 . Shrel! N . M. Buch. l.C.S., Leader
2. Shree K. P. Mathrani, I.C.S. , Member
3. Shree S. K . Anand, L P S. Member
The Government of Nepal were to attach two or three officers
to this Commi ttee.
The following are the terms of reference of the Committee:-
(i) To study the existing organization of the civil administra­
tion in Nepal in the various departmen ts both at the Centre
and the districts and m1ke recommendations for its reorga­
nization; and
(ii) To assess the requirements of the Nepal Government of Indian
..
officers to help them, the qualifications of the officers requi·
red and the period for which their services will be needed.
•
The Committee \\ e re asked to make a quick survey of the situa­
tion and submit their report within about a month. The pattern suggested
by them should not me rely be a reproduction of the Indian system but
ihould be designed to meet tho special needs of Nepal and to suit the
genius of the people. It bad to be simple anj not too expensive.
3. Shri Anand arrived in Kathmandu on 13th May and Shri Buch
and Sbri Mathrani arrived on the afternoon of 14th May 1952.
4. Tbe memters of '1ie CJmmatee met H. E. the lnd1an Ambas-

-a�-

... �-.__..__.•-·--
18.dor in Nepal on tho dato of thei r arrival and the Hon'hle tho Primo
Minister of Nepal on the following days. They handed <''·er to the Primo
Minbter a b rief note indicating the type and nature of the information
required. On 1 6th May, the Committee met the Home Minister and the
Finance M i ni ster and then all tho Secretar ies to Government at a
meeti ng where a simple questionnaire was banded over to the Secretaries
with the request that info rmation asked for in it should be supplied
within two or three days. On 1 8 th May, the Nepal Government
nominated Col. Ti l ak Shamsher, Secretary, Law and Justice and Lt-Col.
H imalaya Shamsher, Secretary, Finance Ministry, to assist the Committee
in its work. Prom 19th onwards the Committee started visiting the
various Secre tari at departments in the Central Secretariat (Singba
Durbar), observing the work done by each official and discussin& the
problems and general set up of the Ministry with the Secretary concerned
and, in some cases, with the Hon'ble Minister concerned. The Comm­
ittee also visi1ed Courts including the Kotwali, Police Stations, and the
departmental and other miscellaneous offices located at Kathmandu. They
also visited a number of places in the Valley. At Bhadgaoa they closely
examined the working of the Adalat (civil and criminal), the office of the
Mal Suba and of the Police Goswara The Central Jail at Kathmandu
.

was visited on 23rd May; oo 3rd June two members visited East No. 1
d i strict and saw the various offices. Courts and the Jail at Dbulikhel. On
7th June they went to Bi rganj , an importaot Terai district and saw the
Bara Hakim's and Mal Suba's offices, the Amini Court, the Police
Station and tho Nepal Railway Headquarters. There was a series of
discussions with the Hon'ble Ministers, Secretarie s, heads of departments
and other officers.
S. Shri J. M. Shr inagesh . I.C.S. and Shri Brij Narain, were Advi­
sers to the Government of Nepal from April 195 1 to February 1952.
During this period they prepared a number of reports Rules and Instru­
ctions and made s uggestions for the setting up of a proper administrative
machinery. Unfortunately, we were able to get only a few of the
reports and notes written by them. We also saw the notes and
suggestions of Shri Govind Narain, I.C.S. , Shri S. K. Sinha, whose
services were obtained by the Government of Nepal, and Shri D. C. •

Lal, D. I. G. of Pol ice, Punjab, who uti l ised his holiday i n Nepal for
studying the working of the Police and making suggestions regardinc
the re-organization of the Police Department. The report of Shri D. C.
Lal on Police reo rganisatio n was most useful to us and it is a pity that
it was not implemented in parts earlier.
6. We received every assistance from the two officers deputed to
assist the Committee. It was fort unate that one oHnem had served as a

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 Bara Hakim of some important districts and could therefore put us wise
to the details of district administration.

CHAPTER II

GENERAL
•

7. Extending along the southern slopes of the Central Himalayas

is the Kingdom of Nepal, Along its northcro boundary it adjoins
Tibet; on the east it is bounded by the State of Sikkim and Darjeeling
district of West Bengal ; on the west by Kumaoo and the river Maha
Kali (Sarda); and on the south by Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The country is a narrow tract extending for about 520 miles and its
breadth now here exceeds 140 miles, and averages between 90 and 100
miles. In the matter of physical conformation the country has four
distinct zones, as follows:
(i) The Terai A low lying belt of grass and sal jungle varying
in breadth from 10 to 30 miles.
(ii) Dom-A Sandstone range running along the whole length of
the country rising to not more than 300 to 600 feet above its
immediate base and 2,00 to 3,000 feet above sea level.
(iii) Hill Country-Varying in height from 4,000 to 10,()f)() feet
above sea le\ el, begioing roughly where the Himalayas rise
to the north, mounting in ridge upon ridge until they
culminate in the vast snowy range extending majestically
along the entire nothern frontier.
(iv) The Mountain region--Comprising all the country lying
beyond the third zone, for the most part inacessiblc and
unexplored. It contains the highest peaks in the world
including Mount Everest (29,002 ft.). Nevertheless, it is
traversed by several passes leading into Tibet most of
which, on account of the high elevation, are open to tra­
•
vellers during a very short period .
8. The hill territory from Kumaon to Sikkim is divided into
four natural divisions by lofty and massive ridges, viz., Nanda Devi,
Dhaulagiri, Gosain-Tban and Kanchenjunga-Mount Everest lying
roughly midway and somewhat behind the two last mentioned. These
enormous ridges run parrel to each other and each of the natural
divisons, into which Nepal is divided is walled in on all four aides
by mountain barriers, each forming a large mountain basin sloping
gradually to the South an furrowed by numerous streams which
rise in the surrounding mountains. Each of the three mountuin basins
dorivos its name from the river which ii is drained :

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 (i) the western division, or mountain basin of the Karnali, or
Gogra ;
(ii) the Cen tral division, or mountain basin of the G andak ; &
(iii) the Eastern division, or basin of the Kosi.
9. For admin istrative purposes, the country could be divided either
into three regions viz., the Terai, the Hills and- the Kathmandu valley, or •

aternatively into the Eastern, Central and Western zones besides the
Kathmandu va lley.
10. The area of the country is nearly 54,000 s :i.uare miles and the .,
population according to the census of 1920 was 55,74, 756. No p r oper
census appears to have taken place and the latest figure-> are a matter of
guess-work. However, the present population of the country might be
estimated at 70 to 80 lak hs . The distribut ion of population by regions in
1920 was as follow!. :
HiJls 30,3 1 ,882
The Valley 3,67 010
Tho Terai 21,75,864

TOTAL 55, 74, 756

l l . The administration of the State has been handicapped by the
almost complete absence of commun 1 cat 1ons between tbe headquarters
and tho outlying districts. Only recently an air-service has been started
between India and Kathmandu. This also has to stop during the
monsoon. There are three or four landing grounds outsid.: Kathmandu,
but their condition 1s not very good. The Nepal Government Railway
runs from Raxaul to Amlekbgunj and the valley of Kathmandu cannot
be reached except by an 18-mile foot journey across the hills. It may
take as long as 35 days to reach the boundary districts. Many of the
Terai districts could be reached only through India. There is very little
telegraphic co ntac t, but a few dist ricts have been connected by telephone
and wireless. Physical features of the country make it necessary to have
reliable officers in charge of districts and to havl} considerable decentra­
lization and d elegation of powers
12. In February 1951 the century old absolute rule of the Rana
Pri me Minister ended. A composite Mrnistry of ten Ministers with the •

Rana Prime Minister at the he&d and Shri B. P. Koi rala as Home Minis­
ter was constituted on 18th February 1 9 5 1 . Maharaja Mohan Samsher
Jung Bahadur Rana resigned on 12th Novomber 1951, and the present
Ministry with Sbri M. P. Koirala as the Prime Minister was formed on
16th November 1 9 5 1 .
B y a Proclamation, dated February 1 8 , 1951, Hi s Majesty the
King of Nepal expressed his desire and resolve that his people should

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.tL
thenceforth be froverned according to the provisions of a Democratic
Const1tut1on framed by them and, until such Constitution was framed,
to set up a Council of Ministers to aid and advi�e h i m in the exerci'e of
his functions. The Iuterim Government of Nepal Act, l 95 l , was accor­
dingly promulgated It provided for the setting up of a Council of
M inisters to aid and advise the King. a Pradhan Nyayalaya with a
Chief Justice and other Judges, the a!"poin•ment of a Comptroller and
Auditor-General and a Public Service Commission, and for holding
elections for the Constituent Assembly. This Act repealed tho Govern­
ment of Nepal Act, 2004. By an amendment to the Interim Government
of Nepal Act it has now been provided that f<X the greater associa­
tion of the representatives of the people i n the administration of the
country, an Advisory Assembly shall be constituted to aid and advise
His Majesty the King and the Council of Min isters. The Assembly shall
cease to exist on the formation of a Constituent Assembly and is to
meet at least twice every year. The Advisory Assembly cannot di�cuss
a motion expressing censure of or want of confidence i n any Minister
or the Cabinet as a whole; but it bas powers of iaterpellation. Legislation
will be placed before it for approval. Tho Annual Financial Statement
is also to be laid before it. The first meeting of the Assembly is likely to
be called by tbe end of June 1952
13. Existing administrative set up-During the regime of the Rana
Prime M i nister all executive, legislative, and even ultimate judicial
authority was concentrated in the hands of the Maharaja Prime M inister.
The next person in the line of succession was the Commander-in-Chief
and was the administrative head not only of the Military but also
of civil administration. The army was directly under the command of the
Senior Commanding General, the office being held by the person next in
the line of succession after the Commander-in Chief to the Prime
Ministership. When the Council of Ministers with portfolios assigned to
different Min isters replaced the Prime M inister who was in charge 0f the
whole range- of administration. there was no organised Secretariat
machinery to assist in running the administration as in a democratic set
up. There was confusion as regards the extent of power which could be
exorcised by different Ministers and by the head of the Judiciary. The
Prime minister used to be the final Court of Appeal. He could give inter­
pretations of laws and remove lacunae by his orders which had the force
of law. Gradually, conditions are now getting established as regards the
proper working of a Cabinet Government. In the absence however of the
revision and adaptation of the old laws ( Ains and Sawals ) a certain
amount of ccnfusion persists. The centralisation of authority and powers
ef old daya still tends to continue. Since however that power has now

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been divided among a number of persons disposal of work became slack
and in spite of the earnestness and good intentions o f the new Govern­
ment the Secretariat machinery which bad to be rapidly got going finds
itself in a state of paralysis.
14. At present. there are 1 3 ministers including the Prime Minis­
ter in addition to a Deputy M inister. Recently, the '\ervice of one of the f
Ministers have been terminated by His Majesty the King. The business of
Government is divided into 1 7 departments, each in charge of a Secre­
tary. There is also a separate Cabinet Secretary. The number of Secretar­ •

ies is in our view unduly large and we shall later propose a reduction in
the number of Ministries. There should b e n o ohjection to one Secretary
working v. ith more than one Minister. The distribution of work amongst
the Ministries is in many instances unscientific. Similarly, departments
which require amalgamation are being separately kept up. In old days
a serarate department appears to have been created for every new func­
tion or project and fo r the three areas, the Hills, Valley and Tarai. Thus,
for example, there is not one Engineering Department under a single bead
of department, but there is an Old Roads Department, a New Road
Department, a department for roads in Hills and Terai, and a sepat ate
department for looking after Governmen t construction and buildings in
the Valley other than those looked after by the Gharhj Department,
which is in charge of His Majesty's and Prime Minister's Palaces, the
Singh Darbar, the Guest House, etc. The engineering works are divided
between the M inistries of Works, Mines and Power, Agriculture and Irri­
gation and Local-self Government. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
are spilt up betwetn the Agriculture and Irrigation and the Heallh Mini­
stry. We shall later on propose a redistribution of work and abolilion and
amalgamation of several departments.
1 5. The Secretariat department would geuerally appear to be top
heavy so far officers are concerned, and the district offices and depart­
ments would appear to have excessive clerical establishment.
16. At present, the working in the Secretariat suffers from two
bottlenecks. The budget not having been passed and proper .financial
delegation rules not having been framed, everything goes to the Finance
Ministry for sanction. This increases work and causes delay. The Fuiance ..

Ministry is now taking step� to issue sanctions and delegations. The other
bottleneck is in the General Administration Ministry. The appointment
of every single government servant, whether at headquarters or in the
districts has to be referred, even after financial sanction has been obtained
and the Ministry concerned has selected the person, to the Ki tab Khana
through the General Administration Department. Only when the Ki tab
Khana givei a clean certificaic about the person proposed to be employed,

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 it is possible to issue formal orders of appointment. The delay in filling
up vaccancies and the selected person being able to draw his salary -when
the appointment of even constables or junior clerks er teachers have to
be referred to a single Central Office in the country, could easily be
imagined. As we shall indicate later, before a Government servant can
draw his monthly pay, his bill bas to be referred to no Jess than six
offices; viz. the Kitab Khana, the Hazri Goswara, the Provident Fund
section, the Loans sect ion. the Miscellaneous Demands section and
•
the 8dli Talab. The Hazri Goswara is a un ique institution. It is manned
by a few clerks who go around the various offices and mar k the
attendance of person!°>. They also pay surprise visits. If an official
happens to be away from his room, when the representative of the
Hazri Goswara arrives, he could be marked absent, and would
lose his pay for the day. If on the other hand, official' attend­
ance is marked by the Hazri Goswara, his absence later in the day
may not be noticed. Unc1er this system, tl:ie departmental superiors
feel no responsibility for ensuring attendance of a person serving
under them, and the officials 0f the Hazri Goswara have considerable
authority which might be abused.
17. At present there is no proper division of work between officers
and clerks. We shall later indicate how the Sec1 etariat c;hould be
organised.
18. There is also no proper division between the work to be done
by the heads of departments and by the Secretariat. There is need
for more personal consultation and discussion between various Secre­
tariat and other departments; unofficial instand of official refrences ; etc.
19. At present there is a tendency to refer far too many cases
including tho�e of a petty nature to the Cabinet as a wh Jle We have
noticed chat certain Rules of Executive Business, Secretariat Instructions
and Confidential Instructions for the use of the Hon'ble Minist�rs and
the Secretaries t.o Government have been framed and perhaps adopted.
If these Rules are followed by the Hoo'ble Mi nisters and properly under·
...
stood by the Secretariat Departments there will be more expeditious
disposal of busiue�s and the Cabinet will not be burdened v. ith
•
unimportant work. The Rules and Instructions referred to above generally
follow the Indian model. Io some respects these have been modified to
suit local cond itions. By and large the Rules and Instructions are ' uisable
though 10 some respects they would require modification. However. we do
not want to go into the details of these Rules and would only emphasise
that they should be observed.
20. District Set up.- The country is divided into districts. A
gfOUp of M ais is Wlder Ule charge of a Bara Hakim, of whom there are

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31. Recently, the re bas been an increase i n the number of Bara Hakim.s.
We feel that the number of d i st ricts i s too l arge and should be red uced
to about 20, h avi n g regard to area, population, state of commu n i cations,
etc. The Bara Hakim is in overa l l charge of the dist r ict administration,
both revenue and po ' ice, and on account of his d istance from and Jack of
intimate contact with headquarter could be an instrument of good as well •

as of oppression In the Hills where there is no regular police org 1 n i sat i on

at al l. the Bara H ak im has under his control the Mil itia, which is a body
of local men who come up when called upon. Each M i l i t ia man i s paid •

about Rs. 7 per month. The Bara Hakim utilises t he Police and the
Regular Army where available, or the M i l itia to govern his charge. On
the revenue side, the Bara Hakim is assisted by Mal Su bas of whom there
may be one or more within his jurisdi.c tion. The M a l Suha is primar ily
concerned with the collection of land revenue and rent. The agency for
collectil'D of land revenue from ind ividual assessees and for m i in tai ning
such v i llage records as exi�t differs in d ifferent areas in the Valley, a
hered i tary official called Zimmeval i'I responsible for the collection of land
revenue; in some area'> in the Terai, there is a Zamindar, assisted by a
.
Patwari, to perform these functions In two or three districts in the wes-
te•n Terai e . g. Nepalgunj and Bardia the U. P. Zam i nda ri system
prevails. In the hill districts, there may be a Mukhia or Ta luqdar respo-
nsible for revenue collection and keep i n g records.
2 1 . There has been no proper revenue survey or settlement, and
the commutation rate from kind into cash rent bears no relation to any
set of recent average prices. The records of ownersh ip, tena ncy, rent. area
and cr\1 pp i n g are mo!>t unreliable and it is difficult to say with accuracy
what the Government demand and outstandings are at part i cular time.
22. 1 here is practical ly no investiglltion or crime Police in the hills
There is a Police- orga n is ation in the Va lley and in the Terai region.
However powers of i nvestigat ion are extremely limited. If the pol ice
made a search and failed to find a ny ca se pr0 perty, they would be l iable
to be prosecuted and punished . 1 hey cannot keep an accused in Police
cu�tody for more than 7 days. Very often all that t hey do is to detain
both the complai nant and the accused and forward them to the Amin i
or Adalat. Tbe Police have practica l l y no intruction i n either drill or .,
Regulatio ns and law etc.
23. There is hatdly any system of intelligence. The Raoas used to
get information from a variety of sou1 ces but i n the absence of proper
organisation Governmcnc m u.st have very ltttle knowledge of tbo itate
of affairs in o u t ly m g areas.
24 1n olJ days tile Bara Hakim generally supervised the working
of welfare dcpamr.on�s like Education, Heahh, eic. With the appomt·

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 ment of special officers in tJic-se departments, the Bara Hakim seems to
be taking lt-ss and less interest or re�ponsibility in these matters. It would
be necessary, i n the conditions obtaining in Nepal, to encourage the
Bara Hakim to give bis co operation to all these departments and
exercise a supervisnry role over the work of village Panchayats.
25. The Forest Department seem!> to have always been run more
or less independently and it was admitted that there bas been serious
encroachment and damage to forests by private individuals with the

•
connivance of corrupt subordinates. Irrepairable d amage has been
caused in many places.

CHAPTER III
SERVICES
I. Recruitment

26. We are not concerned with forms of Government but in

Nepal as dsewbcre "that which i s administered best is best". Whatever
organisation or system is devised, its successful working would depend
almost wh<'lly on the persons who are going to work it. In old days,
important offices went to members of an oligarchy who had acquired
some prestige amongst the people and a degree of experience and
self-confidence on account of long family associations with the admi·
rnistration. In a democratic set up, the privileged ruling caste must
make room for persons selected on their merit by an impartial autJto·
rity. Nothing is calculated more to \mdermine the u�efulness and
authority of a popular Government than a belief that appointments
are made on a'1 y other basis thau of merit and that services are conta•
minated to the slightest extent by party politics. The Services should
fill the dual role of giving advice frankly and feariessly and carrying out
the policies and orders of Government loyally.
27. In Nepal, there bas been a revolutionary change and some
purge of old elements and appointments of some persons who could
be expected to be loyal to the new order was inevitable. Time has
•
however come for the administration now to settle down. Government
should now therefore make all new apµointments to gazetted posts i n

•
consultation with the Public Service Commission a n d screen the
personnel already appointed in a suitable manner so that the t ight man
is in the right pla�e. A competent-administrator is not born but trained
and there is no substitute for experience. We have, within the short
time at our disposal, not adequately been able to assess the suitability
of the present set of offi.;cr� .holding posts of Bara Hak1ms, Secretaries,
and heads of Departments, but from all accounts we gathered an 1mpres·
sion that there will have to be a tresh and carc:ful asses�ment of the

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qualifications «>f a number of them for the posts thoy are holding.
28. We at ach a gre .. t deal of importance to the proper i.election
of personnel and consider that in the absence of such selection, no
scheme, however well thought out it may be, could be implemented
and bring into existence a sound and reliable administrative machine.
We have obtained details of the academic and other qualifications as ..
W¢1l as of the exp�rienc� of th! gdZette:l officers in different departments.
Even after making allownnce for the fact that it is difficult in the conditi­
ons obtaining in Nepal to find a large body of educ:ited and experienced
men, we came across a number of instances where posts have been filled
by persons who on account of their age, qualifications or experience, are
not suitable for such post. Some of the new officers are very keen to learn
and are doing well but it is difficult for them to inspire COllfidence and
respect and J�ad a team of subordinates who claim superior knowledge.

Il. Public Service Commission

29. In pursuance of part V of tho foterim Government of Nepal

Act, 1 9 5 1 , and the Instructions issued by His Majesty the King to his
Min isters, a Public Service Commission has to be constituted and has
to be consulted on all matters relating to methods of recruitment to civil
services, the principles to be followed in making such appointments and
as regards the suitability of candidates for appointments. A Commi­
ssion of three members bas been appointed. Under the Regulations
.
issued, the Commission has to be consulted in respect of recruitment to
posts the pay of which exceeds Rs. 800 annually. For a number of reasons
however, the Commission has not been consulted excepttn a very few
cases. T he Nepal Public Sesvice Commission (Limitation of Functions)
Regulations have promulgated but Schedule to the Regulations bas not
been prepared. There was some misunderstanding about the exact fun­
ctions of the Commissions in r¢spect of traofers etc. This bas been cleared
up. It will give general satisfaction if the Commissin is able to fulfil the
role assigned to i t under the Interim Government of Nepal Act.
30. The Chairman and members of the Public Service Commission
do not consider it necessary to obtain the services of anyone from outside
to work as Secretary of the Commission. The present Secretary has been
to Bihar for a month. It is premature to say whether the ex1st1ng staff of
the Commission will be able to do the work and whether any outside
assistance 1s necessary. But if the Nepal Government felt, when the
Commission begins to function, that the services of a Secretary from
outside are necessary; we would recommend that a suitable person should
be temporanly deputed. Mr. Goviod Narain should be able to give suita­
ble advice in this matter.

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 3 1 . We understnd that under the old regime Government servants
were appointed for a period of one year and their appointments were
renewed every year. For all practical purpose.>, however old Government
servants were permanent servants as the yearly renewal was by and large
a formality. The suitability of these persons for the new posts in the
revised set up will h ave to be d�tennined in each case. The subord inate
services need not all be Screened in the case of recent appointments. I n their
case, equality posts \\ i t h new po�ts only will be necessary. We suggest
that this work should be entrusted to one or more screening Committees,
whieh might consist of a member of the Public Sen.ice Commission, a
Senior Secretary or the bead of a department to Government, and an
independent office like the adviser. Such a committee would be able to
make a quick and realistic appraisal of the worth of each official, having
regard to bis experience, past record, etc. The Prime Minister of Nepal,
with whom we discussed this suggestion, considered this method of scree­
ning suitable. It would not be proper to burden the Public Service Co-
mmission as a whole with this work.
32. As a result of r.:organisation, it would be necessary to retrench
some of the employees, e.ther on the ground of their being surplus o n their
unsuitability. In such cases, it would be necessary to give reasonable com­
pensation for premature termination of services. The compensation terms
offered dy the Saurashtra Government are given in Appendix 1£. What
would be suitable in Nepal would depend�on a detailed examination of
the service conditions and other factors we would of course not reco­
mmend any large-scale retrenchment and the Government would no doubt
examine, should retrenchment become necessary, bow so far as possible
alternative employment coud be found for such personnel. ft is advisable
that existing or future vacancies in the clerical and inferior posts should
not be filled pending the completion of the screening a n d reorganisation.
33. With the revision of scales of pay and classification of SerYiccs
i n different categories, the limit as regards cases where consultation with
the Public Senice Commission is necessary viz., an annual �alary exceed­
ing Rs. 800 needs to be revised.

III. Training
•

34. We attach the greatest importance to the training of Govern­

ment servants of all ranks. A scheme of training for the Defence Services
is being put into effect under the guidance of the Indian Military Mission.
We have proposed a Training School for the Police and suggested depu­
tation of higher officers to Police Train ing schools in India. We suggest
that Mal Subas and Bara Hakims should be deputed in batches for
training to the neighbouring State in ILdia and should observe the work-

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ing of collector's and Tebsil offices. An arrangment could be worked out
in consultation with the Governments of the States concerned . Deputa­
tion in each case should be at leai.t for 3 months. For Patwaris, we would
recommend the setting up of a training school in Nepal itself. ·
35. A training programme both locally and at Debra Dun or with
the Fore•t Department of a neighbouring State should be drawn up by •

the new Chief Conservator of Forests for officials of that department.

36. There �hvuld be arrangements for tbe training of Compounders
and Vaccinators in Nepal itself. Suitable arrangements for the education ,

and training of Surve}ors, Overseers, Engineers and Doctors should be

negotiated with educational and training institutions in India. A certain
number of seats might also be reserved for Nepali subjects in the Agricul­
ture and Veterinary Colleges in India. Arrangements should also be made
for the training of technical personnel for the operation of Wireless;
Telegraphs and Telephones. TraininJ should also be arranged for the
staff dealing with assesment and collection of customs, income-tax and
other taxes.
37. All Government servants should, after recruitment, be placed
on probation and during this period they should be asked to study the
departmental A'ins, Sawals Manuals and Codes, and be required to pass a
departmental test. These tests could be held by the P1:blic Service Comm­
ission for Gazetted officers and by Government or the Heads of Depart­
ments for others.

IV. Integrity of Service

38. We heard from various sources that there wns widespread

corruption among Government servants of all ranks. The Government of
Nepal themselves are well aware of this. We suggest that they should
consider at an early date what measure should be adopted to bring to
book the corrupt officials. Better scales of pay will to some extent, remove
this evil ; but it is also necessary that recruitment should be strictly on
merit and there should be f1equent inspection ofsubordinate offices and that
•
the higher officers should themselves set an· example in standards of
rectitude to their subordinates. While screening officials, their past record
of integrity should be specially taken into account. It hardly needs to be
recorded that corruption may not only take the form of monetary gratifi­
cation but also of ·nepotism and patronage i n matters of appointment
grantiJlg of privileges, permits, contracts etc.

CHAPTER IV

CENTRAL SECRETARIAT
39. It is fortunate that the Secretariat has been housed in the

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--
 commodious Singh Durbar. It is essential however that the various
Ministries should be seated compactly and rooms properly partitioned
and apportioned to facilitate business-like transaction of work. Many of
the offices spread out in the city could be brought to Singh Durbar at this
would make for better coordination and supervision.
• 40 The business of Government is conducted in 1 7 ministries i n
addition to the Cabinet Secritariat. (Appendix I I I ) . Having carefully
considered the reqt. irements of Nepal, we feel that this number is altoge­
• ther too large. In the interest of economy and efficiency we propose a
reduction in the number of ministries to 1 1 and suggest redistribution of
work between them as in Appendix IV. The new Ministries will be:-
1. Ministry of General Administration.
2. Ministry of Defence.
3. Ministry of Home
4. M inistry of Foreign Affairs.
5. Ministry of Finance.
6. Ministry of law.
7. M inistry of Revrnue and Forests.
8. M instry of Works and Communications.
9. M inistry of Planning and Development.
10. Ministry of Education, Health aod Local Self Government.
1 1 . M inistry of Commerce, Industries and Civil Supplies.
4 1 . The present distribution of work. is not rational in a number of
cases e. g., P. W . D. is split up in half a dozen departments and under
three M inistries. Separation of Animal Husbandry from Veterinary "' ork
causes some confusion. The Goncral Administration Ministry tends to
take on work whicb might well be done elsewhere. Tht records in the
Kitab Khana which are well kept are really in the nature of service
record and should be kept i n the ca;e of gazetted officers by the
Accountant General. The government in Nepal is a unitary government.
There is therefore no distribution of functions between the States and
the Centre as in India. The distribution of work that we propose has
been done after taking into consideration all these factors.
42. I n proposing a reduction in the number of ministries we would
• not like to express any opinion on the number of Ministers Nepal
should have, as that is a political question. One Secretary and one
department of the Secretariat could however submit work to more
than one Minister. There could be a separate Minister in charge of
Education, Public Health and Local Self Government; but the proposed
Secretariat department of Education, Public Health and I.0c:il Self
Governrr ent need not on that account be split up into two or tllree
full-tlodged departmen�.
 43. The table below gi ves the existing h ierarchy of officials in the
Secretariat and other departments together with the details of their
dearn ei. s allowances and Secretariat al lowan ce in Nepalese currency.
[During our stay in Nepal t h e value of Rs. 100 (Indian) varied
from Rs. 125 to 132.50 (Nepalese)].

Pay per Dearness Secretariat •

annum allowance Allo wance pe r

per month month
•

Rs. Rs. Rs.

l . Nausindha. 204/- 7/50 10/-
2. Ba hi dar. 278/- 7/50 10/-
3. Naib Writer. 300/- 7/50 10/­
4, W r i te r. 400/- 7/50 lO/-
5. Naib Mukhia. 360/- 7/50 10/-
6. Muk h ia . 500/-to 650/- 7/50 10/-
7. Naib Ditba. 700/- 1 5/-
8. D i tha. 800/-to 1000/- 1 5/-
9. K harid ar. 800/-to 1000/- 15/-
10. Naib Subba. 1 400/-
1 1 . Subba. 1 800/-
12. M i r Subba. 2700/-
13. S1rdar. 4000/-
1 4. Kaji. 6400/-
15. Be.de Kaji. 9000/-
(On 7th June 1952 Goveroment announced new Scales of pay)
44. We do not cc mider it neces� a1 y that in 1he reo r gan ized set up
old de si gn at i ons
sh11uld altogether be ahando n ed and new ones such
as "J unior clerk" "Senior clerk" "A ssistan t" "Superintendent" etc.
brought in. Old designations are well understood by the people at
the same time. it is not necessary to have as many as 15 different
categories of Government servants and We would recomme n d that
apart from the Secretary and the Deputy or Assistant Secretary there
should be o nly 4 other categories of Secretariat servants w1 th appro­
pria te Nepali designations.
45. The office records in Nepal are k ept in the form of scrol ls . The
pape r used is locally made handmade paper which though thin seen:s
to be very durable. I nstead however of papers bei ng arranged and
not ing and drafting proceeding as in a file, a roll is made out which
perhaps occup ies less space in the records, and is easier to dispatch
from place to place over long distances. On tho other hand, the file
system bas many advantag ,s. This system bas already been miroducod

·98·
 in the Secretariat. We found however that the system was not properly
understood. Expensive fi le covers, more suitable for commercial firms,
have been purchased and instead of paperc; being tied together, they are
pierced through and held together with metallic clips. A number of cle1 ks
were found engaged io pulling loose papers io such file -covers aod
proJucing in the t nd something which bas neither the merit of the old
system nor the advantage of the new. The Nepal hand-made paper is
perhaps not suitable for the File r-ystem. We would recommend that
in the districrs and other officer there need be no hurry to dispense with
•
the scroll system which is only a method of putting papers together,
and bas worked alright. Certain impro, ements like proper indexing,
numbering of papers, etc. should be introduced. In the Secretariat, a
simple file system could be i ntroduced and it should be possible for tho
team we would recommend or for Mr. Govirid Narayan to give s imple
in,trLctions as to how files :.hould be kept. Mr. Govind Nara� an·s own
small r)ffice which we saw would set\e as Pn excel eat model.
46 We shall ind icate elsewhere what in our view should be the staff
in each Ministry and how it should be selected. Our proposals are liberal
and after the work is properly organized, there will be scope for further
reduction.
47. We feel that as in the States of Tndil, one of the Secretaries to
Government should be designated as Chief Secretary or Secretary
General That Secrctar)' will also be Secretary to th� Cabinet and there is
no need for a separate Cabinel Secretary. The Chief Secretary or Secretary
General should be in c'1arge of the General Administration Mini< try
and coordinate the work of all Secretaries. He should be c1refully
�lected from amongst the most competent senior civil servants, be
respected by his colleagues, and command their confidence It is only i n
this manner that co-ordination, discipline and efficent working o f the
Secretariat could be ensured. It wac; not pos•ible within the time at our
disposal in Nepal to assess the merits of the different !'ecretaries and to
say which of the existing Secretaries would be suitable for this appoint­
"
ment. In case the Nepal Government do not c.1nsider any of their officers
suitable for this post. Indra should be able to as ist temporarily in finding
such a person. We shall indicate later that in the event of such an officer
not beiog available or required the service of one of the senior officers
already deputed to Nepal for a short time could be utillised i n addition
to his own work Besides adequately filling the post of Chi f Secretary
or Secretary-General. we feel that each of the reorganised Minis­
tries should have an official of the statu' of a senior assistant or
jounior Supdt. From one of the States or the Central Government in
India attached to it for about a year. That official will assi:.t in organising

.99..
the routine and the system of work in the Minis try and by bis own exam·
pie train the local official i n the methods of dealing with cases.
48. Special assi�tancc well be necessary in the Finance Department
which will be indicated at the appropriate place. Officers of the rank of Un·
der or Deputy Secrrtaries i n the States should also,we feel be attached for
about an year to the Ministr es of General Administration, Defence, and
•
External Affairs, one officer cao have moro than one Ministry. The team
of officers and clerks deputed to the Secretariat should work under the
general supervision of the senior most officer deputed and if Shri Goviod
•
Narayan is asked to perform the functi. ns \\ hicb we would recommend
later under bis, or is a Chief Secretary is obtained from outside under
the Chief Secretary's supervision Th'ese officers l:e!>ides attending to the
day to day work in the Ministries will form a team which will simulta·
neously give simple training to Nepal Govenment Secretariat officials.
They could arrange lectures for them in batches for one or two hours
everyday. A number of State Governments and the Central Government
run training institutions and it will be possible to draw up a simple
syllabus and training programme for Nepal.
49. Shri Govind Narayan has considerable experience of district and
Sccretariat work in India as well as in Nepal. We feel that it should bo
possible for him, with the permission of His Majesty the King, to spare
about two hours everyday; sit in Singh Darbar and assist in the
co-ordination of work; setting up of a proper Secretariat and
implementation of the various proposals which we have made. In other
words, till a suitable officer is found ; he would act as Secretary General
-

in addition to his present duties. Even after that he would function as

the leader of the team of officers de p uted from India and would advise on
all matters of reorganiza1 ion. It would not be necessary to u t i l ise Shri
Govind Narayan's services if the services of a full time officer are obtained
from India to act as Che1f Secretary or Secretary General .
50. We would recommend abolition of two existing institutions
viz., the Hazri Goswara and the Adda Janch. Each M inistry and depart­
ment should be responsible for checking the attendance i n that M in istry
and for maintaining a leave account of non-gazetted
officials. It should
not be necessary to consult the Hazri Goswara every month before
pay-bills are passed. A revision of the existing procedure ahout scrutiny
of pay bills is being recommended by u& elsewhere in this report. Adda
Janch seems to be a department for the inspection of the work of all the
offices of Government. We do not consider t hat, consituted as it is, the
Adda Janch is competent to perform the duties entr usted to it.
Inspections of subordinate offices should be done by higher officen; of
the concerned department, e.g., the Superintendent of Pohoe or the

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 D.I.G. or the I. G. should inspect $he Police Offices and the work of
Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, etc., the Chief Engineer should inspect the
work of the Suparintending and Executive Engineers, the Bara Hakim
should inspect the work of the Subas and the member of the Board of
Revenue or some other special officer should inspect the work of the
Bara Hakims; the Director of Education should see the work of his
Inspectors and so on. There is no place for a department which is capable
of inspecting the work of all other technical and non-technical depart·
meats in a modern State except as regards methods and organization .
•
5 1 . I t is necessary in a country like Nepal where communications
are very difficult and contact with outlying areas is meagre and remote
that there should be the maximum possible delegation of power and
decentralisation. Nece�sary inspections could be provided but beads Qf
departments and officers in charge of districts should be encouraged to
assume responsibility and should have adequate financial and other
powers so that there is no unnecessary held up of Government work.

CHAPTER V
REORGANISATION OF MINISTRIES AND DEPARTMENTS
52. In this Chapter we propose to discuss the existing organisation
of the various Ministries and Departments and give our suggestions for
their reorganisation excpect in respect of Finance and Accounts; District
Administration. Police, Jails and Judiciary, which will be dealt with in
subsequent Chapters.

A-Ministry of General Administration

53. This M inistry has a Secretary. 3 Deputy Secretaries, 4 Assistant
Secretaries, and about 75 clerical staff. It deals wir h all appointments the
Public Service Commission ; co-ordination of the work of different
Ministries, supervision of district administration, supervision of State
property, Adda Janch, Hazri Goswara, Farashkhana etc. and the hospi­
tality department. It entertains and hears miscellaneous petitions and
political cases.
54. The officer staff of the Ministry is generally speaking

..
eitperienced but it has been trained in tho old ways and it would be useful
to have i n the Ministry a couple of officers who have bad some training
in ono of the State secretariats in India.
55. We have elsewhere recommended that it is unncoe!lsary to have
the Hazri Goswara and Adda Janch as serarate departments. W!! have also
indicated that the K ital>khana which keeps the servict records of all
officers should really be transferred to the Comptroller and Auditor
General. It should not be necessary to consult the Kitabkhaoa every month

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before pa.y bills are passed. Each bead of department or office should
be made responsible for e nsuring that pay-bills are properly prepared
and drawn.
56. The General Administration Ministry should really concern
itself with appointmccls of beads of Departments and Cl ass I ga zatted
officers. References to :he General Admini<;tration M inistry should be
•
made by the Ministry conrerned, only af1 e r it has formulated i t s proposol
i n consulation with the P u blic Service Commission. This M i nistry should
also be con sul ted in the fr aming of Service Rules other than tho e falling
within t he purview of the M i n i stry of Finance.
57. District Administration in different department should be
supervi.ed bv the mi nistri es concerned. The Home Ministry will be
concerned wHh the Police, Jails and general maintanance of Law and Order
and the Revenue and Fo rests Ministry will be concerned with the
Reve nus work of Mal Subas and Bara Hakims.
58. The task of coordinating the wor k of different ministries will be
an i m portant function of the m i ni�try. Th is could be achieved generally
by reference to mat ters which come up or ought t o come up before the
Cabinet.
59. We have recommended elseswhere that the Cabinet Secretariat
should be me rged in the Gen eral Administration M inistry and the
M inistry placed under the Chief Secreta ry or Secretary General. This
will ensure be t t er co-ordination and avoidance of duplication of work.
60. The officer strenI;th of the Ministry should be one Ch ief Sec1e
tary or Secretary General, two De puty Secretaries and three Assistant
S !cretaries. The Ministry will not be concerned wi t h a Jot of details
of administration as at presen t and there is th ere fore, scope for reduction
in the cle rical staff.

B-Ministry of Defence
6 1 . In Nepal there was no division of d ut ies between the Ministry
and the Army h ead qu arters in the pas t . The Commauder-in-Chief
and the Senior Commanding General between themsel ve s dealt with
the whole range of administration and policy regard ing defe nce .
62. The Defence Ministry has two bran ches at present viz. (i)
General (ii) Budget . The M in istry bas a St cretary, 2 Deputy Secre
tari es , and 2 Assis tant Secretaries. The Deputy Secretary and one
Assistant Secretary have attained the age of 60 and would very sh ortly be
ret ir i ng . One Deputy Secretary is a B. Sc., 2 5 years old keen but with
little administrative ex peri ence. He used to be tbe Chief Secretary of the
provisional Governtnment set up at Mobattari. The second Assistant
Sccrttary is a graduate, 24 yeart old. He was Head Master of an Aduh

-102-
 School. A Deputy Secretary in the Finance Ministry to be attached as
Financial Adviser to the Defence Ministry has, we understood, been
deputed to New Delhi to study tbe working of the organisation of the
Financial Adviser Defence. The Defence Secretariat does not at present
find enough work to occupy itself and we feel, baving regard to the
present personnel that it is essential that an experienced Under Secretary
from the Ministry of Defence should be deputed to assist in the organisa­
tion of this Ministry for about 6 month to one your. We do not consider
• that the present staff other than the Secretary would bo able to d ' justice
to their work i n the Ministry without further training. Major General
Pranjpye bas been assisting in the organisation of the Army Heddquarters
and he and Shri Govind Narain would assist in organising the
Defence Ministry.
63. The Ministry should continue to have two brancaes each uuder
a Deputy Secre tary and an Assi�tant Secretar) . One Branch may deal with
the work relating to general staff and subjects wbich are dealt with in the
Adjutant General's Branch. The second branch might deal with matter con­
nected with the Quarter Master Geenral's Branch and maintenance.Broadly
speaking the subjects dealt with by the first Branch would be as follows:
(a) General Staff work, i.e.-
Approval of operational plans and scheme, 10 peace and war.
Examination of questions of raising of new units and approval of the
same.
Expansion or reduction plans.
Examination of location of the army in peace and war.
Intelligence Policy and co-ordination with civil intelligence.
Approval of new weapons and purchase policy of weapons, ar:ns etc.
Schools of instruction and education in the army.
Foreign courses-in India and abroad, etc; etc.
(b) "A" matters (Adjutant General's Branch):
This work concerns all matters concerning personnel such as:
Policy of recrnitment of officers and men.
Appointment, promotion and retirement rules.
Pay and pension rules.
,. Discipline-Army Act.
Medical- policy, etc: etc; etc.
The second branch (Q) will deal with the following subjects:
Policy regarding supply of rations and stores, i. e. scales of issue and
procurement.
Purchase of animals (mules/horses etc).
Location and accommodation.
Transportation

-J03·
 Moves of troops.
Buildings and works programme.
Cantonments-administration of.
Stationery and office equipment, etc; etc.

C. Ministry of Foreign Affairs •

64. This Ministry has a Secretary, two Deputy Secretaries, three

Assistant Secretaries, one Chief of Protocol, a Director of Internal Affairs,
a Director of Asian Relations, a Director of Tibetan Affairs, a Gazetted •

officer, a Superintending Surveyor and 39 clerical staff. Recently an Aust­

rian National who has spent some time in Tibet, bas been appointed
Assistant Director for Tibetan Affairs. There a1c two Embassiei.-British
and Indian-in Nepal and the U. S. and French Ambassadors in India
are also accredited to Nepal. There is a Consulate General at CalcuLta
besides the embassy in India and several Vakils in Tibet. There is also an
Embassy in the U. K.
On the whole, the Ministry of External Affairs is well organised
into sections and the records are well kept. 1 be Secretary should however
be seated in a separate room.
The Government of Nepal have asked for one officer to help them
in the organisation of the work connected Wilh the Cabinet ; General
Administration and Foreign Department3. We would recommend that a
young officer from the External Affairs Ministry who has worked for some
time in the Ministry and also in an Embassy might be deputed to assist
this Ministry for about 6 months.
We have no comments to offer about the officer staff in this
Ministry except that we feel that there is hardly any need for as many
as 3 Directors. The role of the Director of Internal Affairs in the Ministry
dealing with External Affairs is not clear to us.

D-Ministry of Home Affairs

65. The present allocation of work to the Ministry of Home

Affairs is by and large what it should have. We are further recommending
that the work connected \\ ith the administration of Justice should be
transfered to it. The Ministry should also receive fortnigh tly reports from •

Bara Hakims and if the General Administration Department receives

such reports, a copy should immediately be given to the Home M inistry.
66. The Ministry has at present l Secretary, 3 Deputy Secretaries
and 3 Assistant Secretaries i n addiLion to 20 clerical staff. The Secretary
of the Ministry is new to the Secretariat but has seen considerable
service in the Police Department and has been trained in India. In the
reorpnised set up, the officer swr might be as follows.

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 Secretary
I
, I
Deputy secre tary D ep uty Secretary
I I
I I Asstt. Secretary
Asstt. Secy. Asstt. Secy. Judicial Administration.
I I Jails.
Police Organisation. P1)h tical. Criminal Law.
Law and Order. Intelligence.
• Publicity anu
Press

67. At present the Home Ministry have to do considerable execu­

tive work i n regard to the Va ll ey, which is done in other di stricts by Bara
Hakims and Adalat s and Amin1s. There is no B ara Hakim at Kathmandu
for the Valley, w i th the result that even warrants of arrest or orders
banning meetings �ind processions ha'e to be isl>ued by the Home Mim�ter
h imself. It is desirable that a Bara Hakim should be appointed for the
whole 0f the V.11ley with headquarters at Kathmandu at a very early
date and he �ho uld be i nvested with the necessary powers which are
elsewhere enjoyed by D istrict Magistrates.

Information and Publicity

68. The D!partment of Publicity which has been recently

organised, is also i n ch:uge of the publication of the Ne pal Gazette and
controls the management of the Go vern ment Press. Jt also issues a paper
known as "Gorkba Patra". Some newspape rs in Nepali language are
published outside Nepal but there are two or three which are published
in 1'\epal, tl e most important being the "Awaz".
69. The Nepal Radio started function ing on A pri l I , 1 95 2, with
a BCGIOE �65 watt t ransmitter. 11 I' ns a daily programme of 3 hours and
iss ues News Bullet ins in Nepali, H indi, Ncwan and Engli�h . Till recently,
it was under the D�partment of publicity but now it h a s been pl ace d
under a separate Department with its own Director. Orders have been
placed for 5 kwt. and
250 watt. transmitters. There are about 95
employees in the Nepal
Radio. The Radio as well as the
pu bl icity Departments are still in the process of being set up. We
understood that D i r ectors were being sent for training for about a
week or fo rtn i ght to India.
70. U nder the democratic set up where elections have to be held
shortly on adul t franchise for the first time , lhe organisation of publi­
ci ty o n proper l in es is a matter of great importance. Communications
are difficult and thc:e is a great deal of illiteracy. Undc:r tlle conidi·

-105-
tions, a sohemo of rural broadcasting may be found useful. At present
there is very little contact with tho outlying areas and publicity and
educati0n of the masse� would therefore requiro very careful planning.
A great d�al of damage may be done by thoughtless publicity or publicity
through media which may not be suitable for Nepal.

E. Ministry of Law
7 1 . The L"gislative Department of this Ministry consists of one
Secretary, one Sardar, one Suba, one Naib, one K.hardar, one writer, one •

Naib Mukhia, one Naib Writer, one Babidar, four Nausindas, one
Jamadar and four sepoys.
72. On the Judicial side, thore is a complement of two other officers
and 87 clerical staff The Sardar and the Suba, on the Legisgislative side
are 72 and 61 years old and are due to retire, There is hardly any one
in the Ministry adequately trined in Jaw or drafting to assist the
Secretary.
73. We would recommend that the work connected with the ad­
ministration of justice and criminal law and procedure should be
transferred to the Homo Ministry. The advice of the Law Ministry
would no doubt available for drafting etc. but appointments con­
nected with the administration of justice, determination of the various
grades of Court and their jurisdition and powers, and matters relating
to penal laws and criminal procedure should be dealt with in the Ministry
of Home Affairs.
. 74. We have elesewbere proposed that there is no need for a
separate department of Parliamentary Affffairs and we suggest that all
matters connected with constitutional reforms, elections etc. should be
dealt with in the Ministry of Law. The Legislature, which constituted,
will of course have iLs own Secretariat and officers under the control of
the Speaker.
75. The Government of Nepal have asked for the services of
the following officials:
(1) One ofl:cer and 3 assistants to examine and scrutinise
the existing laws.
(2) Ono officer and 3 assistants to codify the laws.
(3) One officer and 3 assistants for drafting.
We consider that it is necessary to have as many as 3 officers and
9 assistants from outside. lt should be sufficient if an officer of tho
status of a Deputy Secretary in a State Government or the Central
Government who bas experience of drafting is deputed to this Ministry.
He could bring with him a stenographer aod a Superintedent or an
Assistant with legal qual1ficafions. This would be in addition to tho

·106-
1
 suggestion we have made in the Chapter dealing with the Jud iciary.
that i t would be desirable to have an officer of the statu' of a Distr ict
and Sessions Judge serving or retired to be a m ember of the proposed
Law Committee or Comm issio n which would review the exist i ng laws
and propose amendments etc.

76. We suggest the folowing officer staff for this Ministry.

Secretary
I
•
I

I I
I I
Dy. Secy. Dy. Secy. Deputy Secretary
(opinion (Drafting (Constitutional matters
i ncl u d i ng & Legislation) including elections and
Contracts & I Pa rl ia men tary affai rs)
conveyancing) I
I
2 Asst. Secretaries .
I
I
One .\sst. Secy.
I
One Ass i stant Secretary

MJnistry of Parliamentary Affairs

77. Th i s Ministry is clealing with affair� co1 nccted with 1he C0nsti­
tution of the Advisory Assembly, Census. ElectiPn<\ and Con, t i tu t ional
Reforms. As wr: h a ve recom mended e'sewhere, we th in k that the w rlc.
con nected with the Cersus cou ld be tal en O\er by the Revenue (ore-.ent
Land Administration) Depart ment . Work connected wi th Cr"lnstitutional
Refo rms , Ele.:-tions and the Advisory Assembly aff t irs should be done
by the law Ministry . The Legi sl a ture may have of C< urse its own small
Secretariat under the control of the Speaker in due course. We have
also recommended earlier that the adm i ni strati on
of Justice should be
t ransfered from the Law M i n istry to tt e Home Ministry. The Law
M i nistry would therefore be able to take on without d ifficul ty the work
now proposed to be transferred to them from the M i n i st ry of Parlia­
mentary Affairs for the existence of wh ich there is no part icul ar
necessity.

F. Ministry of Revenue and Forests

78. At present there aro two sep arate Minisl ries, one dealing with
Food and Land Ad mi ni � t rat io o iind another with Forests. We propose
that there should be a s i n gl e M mist ry dealir g with the land revenue
administration as well as forests and "Food" should be tran sferred to
the M inistry of Commeroc, Industries and Civil Supplies.

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 79. The food and Land Administration Ministry deals witb
the procurement. purchase and distribution of foodgrains. control of
imports of ghee, potato, oilseeds and Dais ar.d famine relief. Famine
re l ief should be transferred to the Revenue Ministry. The "Land" part
of tho M i n i st ry deals with survey and classification, realisatk•n of land
revenue. land p0licy a nd su�pensions and remissions. T he la!!d sec.
tion is sub-divided into 1 su� srctions dealing with the \'al ley, the hills
and the Tera• i n add it io n to a peneral sect i" n .
80. Th e M inist ry has a Secretary , a Deputy Secretary, a Director, ,,

3 Assistant Secret aries and 27 cl erical staff. The Director of Land

Admini�tration deals with all propn�als for suspensions and remissions
received from Mal Subas and Bara Hakims. There is a �eparate Survey
Department but the Director is not in charge of it. There has been no
regular survey. The survev office h a � an old ex oer i n ;ed H.tkim. He is very
keen to learn but withnut adequate k n owledge of su rvey and classifi-
cation and C"mpetent staff A cadastral !- u rvey 0f the councry was
started about 1 1 yf' ars ago but not much progress has been m ade. A
long time back. the Survey of India d id a su rvey not of much assistance
now for re" e nue purposes. Revenue rurposes. Such Survey re coi d s as we
found in the su rvey office were not up to- date a nd copies have not been
sent either to the Mal o ffices or the Palwari or Z i mmeva l . At the time of
survey. boundary sto nes are not fixe<l anci i t i<: likely t h a t in m1ny place
even th e new survey c 1rried out i<; out of d ate Cla<;sific Lt t o n · f land i n to
three clac;ses ha<: heen done though n lf very sc ien t ifical l y. Bo un d ary d ispu-
tes go to Civil Courts which in turn refer them for local in�pecLion to
Revenue o ffice rs. They report largely on th e b1sis of some kind of summa-
ry oral enquiry. Such rec "lrds a<> ex ist onh adJ to the confusion .
8 1 . Some k ind of summa ry settlement was done long ago . The
original dem and was in kind, but there has been a cash commutation at
a very low rate a-. low as ahout R<i. 218/- to Rs 3 per maund of
pa ddy , However, the commuted rent wo rks out appro xim atel y as
follows· :
(a) Wilhin the valley: From R�. 1 3� to Rs. 250 for irrigated land
and from pice 56 to Rs 27 non irrigated land
pe r bigha.
(b) In the bills: Fro m Rs. 6i to Rs. I
I i in irrigated and from
p ice 25 to Rs. l 3l i n no n i rr igat ed , per
bigha.
(c) In the Terai : 10 for paddy fiel dc; and Rs. ! to
Re. I to Rs.
Rs. 5 for no n-i rr igated land Pf r b igha.
Tn some places in the hills. Government demand has been assessed
according to the mode of cultivation i. c. whether it is carried out with

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 the help of plough with 2 bullocks or one bullock or by hand with a
spade or according to the quantity of seed required. Sometime the
assesment is fixed according to whether the field can grow rice or not.
Other kinds of clas�ification accord ing to the means of irrigation or
otherwise are also i n vogue.
82. All land belones to the State in theory. Certain pnrtions of
land cou'd be alienated by 1he Suite temporarily or in prrpetuity and
that land becomec; • Birtha" (revenue free land). All other land is known
• as "Raikar". Rents vary from area to area. Tcnlints can not ordinarily
be ejected as long as they pay rent. Tenancy rights could be bought or
sold. So could zamindaris.
83. Government have under consideration tho abolition of or
reform of the Birtha system. There is so little dnta in the absence "f re­
vision nf the old S"ttlemont and revenue records and such a variety of
tenanciec; that we fell that 1 t is de,irable to appoint a highly train�d survey
and settlement officer who with the help of an experienced local revenue
officer and if necesrary of a Committee could within a period of about
6 months to one year examine the existing revenue and tenancy sy5tcm
and propose what action ic; necessary. A plan extending over a few years
will then have to be drawn up for c1rrying out survey and settlement,
prepare bac;1c records etc. The revenuf', svstem need not necessarily be
uniform thrnughout the countrv a> conciitions may varv i n the Terai and
in the H i lle;. The present poc;it i•'n under which it is not possible accura­
telv to determine either Government demand or ownerc;hips and
tenarcies is very unsatisf ctory. While dealing with district administration
we shall make further suggestions about the reorgaoisation of the
Revenue Departmant.
84. Tenants of land orther than Birth a hav.! a certain amount of
security and their rights apper to be almost ident ical with occupancy
rightc;. It would be necessary after a quick survey and d i·cuc;sins with the
interests involved to ensure t'-lat there i-; -;ecurity of tenure in Birtha areas
aho a n d Birtha holders make some contribution to the State revenues. It
is difficult for uc; to say what should be the pace and manner of tho reform
or abolition of Birthas, and what would be the reactions 011 the political
and law and order situation. A l l this is now under the consideration of
Government.
85. The officer staff for the reorganised Revenue and Forest
Ministry should be as follows:-

-109-:-

. - --- -
 Secretary

I
Deputy Secretay
I
Deputy Secretary
(Revenue) (Forests)

I l
Assistant Secretary
•

Asgistant Secretary Assistant Secretary Forests, Botanical Deptt.

& Hathisar
Revenue Establishment Land Reforms Registration & Stamps
Assessment & Collection Tenure, Survey & Abkari Excise
Inspection & Remission Settlement, Grant Central Registry.
of Land Revenue. of Lands.

FORESTS
86. The Department is in charge of a Deputy Minister, Shri Dhama
Ratna working under the Minister for Transport and Communications.
Shri Raturi who was stated to have been in Tehri Garhwal State service,
is the Forest Adviser and has been in Nepal since 1947. He is M. A B. Sc.
11nd bad forestry training in EnI?land. Before Sbri Raturi joined in 1 947,
Mr. Smythie who had bcsn Chief Conservator of Forests in Utter Pradesh
was in Nepal for nearly 7 )Cars. The department has a staff of one
Secretary, two Deputy Secretaries, two Assistant Secretaries and two other
officials. There is a Bana Vibhag under an officer in charge attached to
the Secretariat pending the appointment of a Chief Conservator of
Forests. There are 2 circles 1 3 divisions and 50 range offices under the
control of the Bana V 1bhag which coordinates all markings. fellings and
extraction and also looks afcer afforestation.
87. Also under the Ministry of Forests is·a Botany Deparment under
'

Director-an M . Sc. from Allahabad. This department looks after the

purchase and sale of forests minor produce herbs, drugs, etc. and has
Laboratory for the indentification, collection and preparation of analyti­
cal data. The third department under the Ministary is Hathisar Goswara
which looks after the maintenance and control of state elephant.
88. Nepal has considerable forest wealth but in the absence of a
proper forest policy there has been indiscriminate exploitation authorised
and unauthorised and in many parts the hills have bcn laid bare aud new
plantation has not been done. For the Terai area Mr. Smythic is stated to
have prepared a number of reports. Th�e however are not readily forth-

- 1 1 0 ..

- -- - .
 coming. Acc.ording to Sbri Ratauni, a number of retired loJiao officer:.
have been borrowed in the last 5 years and he himself bas prepared a
report regarding survey valuation, schemes of preservation, planting etc.
According to him the following assistance is necessary:

(i) 4 working plan teams to start work in selected hills.

(ii) Setting up of a training school, since Debra Dun trains only
3 persons a year and at that rate it would take 48 years to train
all the Nepalese personnel•

•
(iii) Selection of a Chief Conservator of Forests, preferably from
India where silviculture and other problems arc similar to
those in Nepal.
89. Apart from the need for preserving forests in the interest of
soil conservation, forests are an increasingly important source of revenue
to the State. We were surprised to hear that some of the higher offic­
ers are being paid a commission on all sales of forests produce. The Prime
Minister told us that a great deal of good could be done if Mr. Smytbie's
reports could be implemented.

90. Our Suggestions are:

(i) The Inspector-General of Fl rests, New Delhi, or the Chief
Conservator of Forests, Uttar Pradesh, should visit Nepal at an early date
and give a brief report about the organi�..itioo of the Forest Department
and on the formulation of a proper Forest policy.
(ii) Without waiting for (i) above, an officer should bo appointed
preferably an active senior Divisional Forest Officer from India to be the
Chief Conservator of forests in Nepal. The Nepal Government have
asked for one team. Io consultation with the officer to be appointed, we
would recommend deputation of one or even more team to help in orga­
nising the Forest Department and mdkiog arrangements for the training
of local per�onnel. Government should give careful comiderations to the
suggestions made by the expert from India and reorganise the forest
,
Department at a very early date.
(iii) We are proposing that the Ministry should be merged with
the Revenue Department and need not have seperate existence as a
Ministry. Problems of revenue and forest settlement and of land policy
have much in common and all these problems are best dealt with in a
single Ministry.
Ministry of Works & Communications.
91. There are at present 2 separate M inistries one, for works,
Mines and Power and the other for Transport and Communications wjth
the following departments under them:-

-1 1 1-
 Works, Mines & Power
I. Ghar Kaj
2. Saddar P. W. D.
3. P. W. D. Hills & Tarai.
4. Old Roads Department.
5. New Roads Department. ...

6. Bureau of mines & Judha Research Laboratory.

7. Coal M i ne Office.
8. Electricity Department. "

9. Ropeway Department

Transport & Communications

1 . Department of Civil Aviation
2. Department of Post.
3. Wireless Department.
4. Telephone Department.
5. Railway Department.
6. Motor Railway (Trolley) De-partment.

92. As we have already stated, we are recommending that both

these Ministries should be combined into one Ministry to be designated
as the Ministry of Works and Communicatmns. Thi� suggestion is made
with a view to rationalise the work and to coucentrate all work involving
engmeering construction or engmeering personnel under one Ministry.
With this end in view we propose that the Irrigation Department whit:::h is
under the Ministry of Agricult ure and Irrigation should also be trans­
ferred to this Ministry. On the other hand we recommend that the work
relating to mineral resources i e. Bureau of Mines, tile Judha Research
L�boratory Nepal, Coal Mine Office and the Department of Gtological
Survey. Wben i t is created, should be trm-ferred to M1ni�try of Planning
& Development under the new set-up. It may seem that tho 1 eorganised
Ministry as proposed by us would be unw;eldy but this is not correct.
The main defect about the existing system is that tbere is a large number
of semi-detached offices which function without coordination and without
a centralised office or head of department. Therefore considerable amount •

of executive work is at preseut done in the Secretariat. Under our pro·

posals however, we envisage that heads of departments to be appointed
should be in complete executive charge of the department and they should
be delegated adequate administrative and financial powers.

93. At present the two Ministries have the following staff in the
Secretariat:-
 Works,
Power
mines " t"ransp<'rt &
Comm u n ica
tions.
- Total

Secretary 2

.
Officer on special duty 1
Deputy Stcretaries 2 2 4
...
Asstt, Secretaries 6 " 2 8
Superintendents. 2 2

• Senior clerks 6 4 10
Junior clerks 18 11 29
Typi sts 2 2 4
94. It is clear that the staff 1s oxc.:css1ve anJ there 1i, M:Ope consider·
able prun i n g especially in t he strength of officers in the M i n istry. We
suggest that after the rc-allocat1on of wnrk, a ppoi ntment of h eads nf
departments and dele ga t ion of powers, the lollowing strength of officers
would be adequate:-

Sec reta ry l
Deputy Secretaries 2
Asst t. Secretaries 4

95. Tho distribution of work in the Ministry may be some what as

follows : -
Secretary

I
Dy. Secy. (Works) Dy. Secy. (Communic�tions)

.. Asstt. Secy. Asstt. Secy. Asstt. Secy.

'
Asstt. Secy .
I I I I
Road Electri ci ty Rai l ways & Posts Branch
B uild i ngs I rrigat ion Ropeway Telephones
& P.W.D. Registry and Wireltss
Establish- Administration. B1 Civil A, ia.
mrnt. tion Br.
96. As regards the clerical strength it is not necessary to make ary

-113-
 detailed sug@estion but we consider that it may be possible to reduce
&ome posts of junior clerks. We shall now briefly deal with the various
departments under this Ministry.
97. Public Works Department. - We have already had an occa·
sion to refer to the present arrangement under which the work pertaioing
to engcneering is distributed in 3 diffc:rent Ministries, e. g. Irrigation .�

under the Agriculture & Irriration Ministry, roads in the valley under
the Local Self-Government and buildings and other roads as also electri·
city under the Works, Mines & Power Ministry. Further at present the ..
civil engineering work in the W. M. P. Ministry it self is distributed under
5 different offices, viz.-
I . Ghar Kaj
2. Saddar P.W.D.
3. P.W.D. Hills & Tarai
4. Old Roads Department
5. New Road Department.
Without any coordinating technical officers at the head of these
organisations. We consider that all civil engineering works should be in
one Department under one head or Chief Engineer who should have
experience of roads, buildings and irrigation. We have considered whether
irrigation should continue as a separate department as at present, but
having regard to the small size of this department, we feel that it should
' be constituted as a separate circle in charge of a Superintending Engineer
under the Chief Engineer. There are many percedents for this practice,
c.1., in .Bombay even at present there is one Chief Engineer in charge of
roads buildings & irrigatlon as also Electricity Department. Electricity
Department &bould also, in our view, be under the control of the chief
Engineer for all administrative purposes, but it should be constituted
into a separate circle under a Superintending Engineer. Before, however,
we dil.cuss the details of our proposals for reorganisation of the Public
Works Department, it may be useful to refer briefly to the activities of
the existing organisations.
98. Ghar Kaj.- This office deals with works relating to His Maje­
sty's Palace, the Prime Minister's residence, Smgha Darbar (Secretariat)
and the Guest House It is in charge of a Director who bolds the rank of
a Brig. General in the Army and has bad engineering training in Patna
University; from the details furnished, it is not clear whether be had
taken a Degree. He, however, appears to have bad comiderable practical
experience. He bas large staff under him, which, like the other P.W.D.
organisation, is divided into the following section!-
1 . Lagath and check Phat (design & inspection section).
2. Napdi Pbat (Account• ICCtion)

-1 14-

_____ __.. ___....

_ ._. _
 '" Mat Oodam (Storea Medon)
4. Kath Oodam (timher stnro section).
S. Banaunc addas (offices in charge or con•truction works)
lo addition there are an Electricity section and a furniture section in
the Gbar Kaj Department . Each of these sections has considerable clerical
staff, but the technical staff is negligible and some of tho persons appoin·
ted to the posts do not posses the requ isite qualifications. This remark
also applies to other engineering offices of Nepal Government. In thi1
connection it may be interesting to note that accoording to the statement
furnished to us by the Ministry of General Administration, in regard to
the activities of this organisation relating to the Secretariat buildina
(Singba Darbar), it functions under the M i nistry of General Administra·
tion. We can see no reason for this arrangement which can only cause
confusion. The work rolating to the construction, maintenance and repairs
of all buildings including the secretariat building should be directly und"
the Ministry of Works & Communications, though.allotment· of accomm·
odation in the secretariat buildiug should be under and c ontrol of the
Ministry of General A�minitration and repairs and construction iu
respect of buildings should be carried out in consultation with that
Ministry.
99. Saddar P. W. D.- This organisation deals with lhe construction
of and repairs to buildings in the Vally other than the four buildings in
the charge of Ghar Kaj Department. It is in charge of a Director &
Superintending Engineer with a largo clerical staff. It spent during tho
last seven years an account of Rs. I , 79,800 in Nepali currency and Rs.
1 ,50,426 in Indian currency on original works as well as repairs and
maintenance. Thus the annual expenditure of this organisation comes
to about Rs. 47,000 (assuming par value of Nepali rupee).
100. P. W. D., H ills & Terai-- This organisation deal with the
construction, repairs and maintenance of roads and buildings io tho
districts outside the Valley. It is in charge of a Director and Supcrinten•
ding Engineer, Lt. Col. Surya Jang Thapa, who bas received engineering
training at Roorkee ; i t is, however, not clear from the information
furnished to us whether he bas actually obtained Diploma from that
College. There are 4S miles of metalled roads in this area and several
buildings of which a separate rtgibter is not maintained at the hca<lquar·
ters. Io fact it appears that a register of Guvcrnment buildio�s is not
being maintained in any of the dcp rtmeots of P. W. D. The Director
has under him one Assistant Engineer stationed at 811 ganj and S over·
seers at Biratnagar, Saptari, Mahotari, Taulihwa and Nepalganj . In
addition it is understood that 2 posts of Overseers have been sanctioned
for palpa and Dhankuta but bavo not yet been filled. l be annual

-l lS-

__ ..._
_ __ __ ----
budjet sanctioned ror this department amounted to about R. 2.SS,000 ,
but it is u nderstood that the former Prime Minister used to sanction in
addition ad hoc amounts for special works and that in ono year the
amount .. pent by the department was Rs 7.24,0 )0. Last ) Odr, however,
very l1ttle was spent on acc,1unt of the absence of budget sanction There
is a large number of footpaths and mule tracks in this area and these
were, until, recently, being maintained by the Bara Hakims with the
help of • Segar ' ldbour. On acco unt, however, of the abolition of forced
labour by the present Government, these tracks are likely to fall into
disrepair. It is tberef0re, desir·tble that Go\eromeot provide some funds
for the purpose as also to place the responsibility of maintaining these
tracks on the local Panchayats or ot her village representat1ves on a
cooperative and 'voluntary' labour basis.
I O I OIJ Roads Dep:utment --This department looks after the old
rnad from Amlekh!?anj to Bhimpheri and its work consis1s of repairs
and main1ence Lt. Cul. Sur)a Jar.g Thapa holds the post of Director
and SupcrintenJmg Engineer of t h is Depanment in addition to that
of P. W. D H ills and Tera1. We have no inform-ition about the expen­
d tu re incurred on rep urs and maintenance of thi� road during the
previous years as the work WdS gener.tlly carried o u t by the Pioneer Corps
ol the Army. I n this case too •ast year very l i t tle amount was spent.
l 02. Nc:w Road3 Department.- This is ) et another department of
the P . W . D . which was created during the war in connection with the
design and construction cf the road from Raxaul to Kathmandu, which
includes the length of the old road also. Very Ii Hie work has actually
been done and since the construction of the road is being under taken
through the agency of the Government of India, this <' ffice bas no work
a1 pr�sent and at the time of our vi�it was being utilised for traci11g copies
of m ps etc in connection with the 5 year plan t he head of the department
is a non-technical officer who has under h i m a ·couple of enginceu and
some ovc:rsccrs.
IOJ Electrlc:ty Department--Th is department is in charge of the
'enor.. ti n a n J d1str ioution of eleclr icit) for the valley. Electricity is
ge erat a1 d at two h)dr,·ekc1ric pov. er staiions, ,1z. Sundari-jal and
Ph.1rp ng. the p1)wer generated at the former pnwer hou<e is about 800 •

kw. and t'"lat at the latter abriut SJO kw. The respomibdity of the Chief
EMincer of this Department cannot. thereft•rc, be said to be o f a very
high order. 1 he department is i n charge of Mr. Kilburn who has been
in t1e country for about 25 years and is a Chartered Ekctr1cal Engineer
bdng M I. E. E. Mr. Kilburn i ... 59 years old and. according to the age
of superannu.ition tb1t may be fix:ed by the Nepal Government. he has
either �uperannu:ited or wi1l sJp.;raunu.ite shortly. Unlike the other

-1 16-
heads of departments, we gathered th�t Mr. Kilburn bad been gtven wide
powers by the former Pnme Min ister in the malter of expenditure of
funds, purchase of stores, ecc., but he was expriencing some di fficulty
rt>garding fi na nc i a l sanctions uncer the present regime. His organisation
is we l l staffed both at the Headqu:\ r t ers and at the po we r houses. There
is pr0bably som" scop� for re d uc t i o n in the he.1dquartl!rs office staff.
104. The pre'\ent supply of power is i n adeq uate foe t h e require­
ments of the Valley and we understand th at the Nepal Government bas
under comideration pro posa l� for augmenting it. They do no t however
appear to have been fi nal i �ed though we ur derstand tbat one sche me had
been prepared by Mr. Kilburn. We gathere d that two al ternat i ves were
put up before the Nepal Government of either bavmg an addit ional
thermal st a ti on at K a thmandu or a new hydroelectric power station in
the hills. We suggest that an officer of the Central Water and Powe r
Commis,ion or of the B i h ar or UP Elect r ic i ty department might visit
Kat h m a nd u and give the Ne pal Government objecrive technical advice
about the most suitable s�hemo toth for short-term and long-term
requirem<-'nts.
105. Ropeways Departments - This Dep 1 r tment administers two
links of ropeways, one from Matatirtha to A mlek hga nj and the other
from Kathmandu to Swayambhunatb. It is in cha rge of Mr. Kilburn
Chief Ergineer, El ect r i cit y Department who h as under him a Resident
Engineer and supen i�ory and clerical staff for the purpose. This work
le�i timately falls under the R a i l w a y Department and we suggest that i t
should be under the control of t he Gt>neral Manager o f the Nepal Govern­
men t Railway.

Irrigation Department

106. As has already been mentioned, I rr igat i o n Department is at

present under the control of Mmistry of Agr icul t ure and I rrigation. I t is
in charge of a Chief E ngineer. which post is held at present by Sardar
Kartar Singh Garcha who bas obtained engineering qua l i ficatio ns from
America and has been in the Nepal Government service for tho last 1 3
years . I n the head quarter� office t here are a Der uty Director and a Supe­
rin t end i ng Engineer in addition to the Director and Chief En g i nee r, but
it appears that the post of Deputy D irec tor is bold b y an officer who does
not possess any technical qualifications. In add i ti o n to certa in minor
im�ation works this Departme n t has u n de r its control 3 i rr igatio n works
viz; Ch and ra Canal, Jagd1sh Kaur Reservo i r and J ud ba Canal. A dequa t e
staff is p ro vided f,lf each of t hese works. Jn addition, two o the r pr jects
viz , V1j:iypur Pn•ject estimated to cost Rs. 3 , 3 2, 000 and Bathe r Project
estimated io co st Rs. 2,78,000, are in pro�ress. Fur ther, Si rsa Dodbore

-1 17-

�·-�---- � -
 and Tllawa projects, estimated to cost R.s. 1 2 lalchs each are, lt ls under­
stood, under tho active consideration ef the Government of Nepnl. We
have already mentioned thal i n our view i t is not necessary f,·r thi1
Department to function as a separate self-contained Department and
that all civi l engineering works should be under one common head of
Department. This arrangement will facilitate the interchangeability
of staff and training of personnel in the different branches of civil
engineering.
107. Tt will be clear from the above brief description of tho
existing engineerin g or�ani�ations that there is no central technical
control and that technical staff is in most cases not fully qualified nor
adequate. Further there is no proper division of the country into P.W.D.
Circles, divisions or �ulHiivisioos but staff is being sanctioned from
time to time for design, constrution and maintenance of individual
works. There i<i little delegation of powers for administrative approval,
purchase of stores and incurring of expenditure and most matters have
to be refrered to the Secretariat for sanction. P. W. D. works are generally
done departmentalJy and the system of giving out works on contract
docs not appear to have been tried. The only exception to this co urse is
in regard to roads in the Valley as also i n the Terai which are constructed
by prhate companies. In the valley, as already mentioned elsewhere,
the construction of roads was farmed out to Sa mar Jang Co. and in the
Terai to private bus companies. For the right of construction of these
roads, these companies recover tolls for their use. Jn view of the fact that
under the present regime large scale construction works are likely to be
• undertaken, we suggest that some of the bigger works should be given
on contract by open tender as otherwi�e it will be necessary for the
Government of Nepal to engage a large technical and skilled establish­
ment and will have to invest substantial funds for the purchase of stores
etc. which will have to be properly accounted for.

Suggestion for the Reorganisation of the P. W. D.

108. We have alreday given an indication of the manner in which
wo consider this Department should be reorganised. I n our view there
should be one h ighly experienced and qualified civil engineer to be desigoa
ted as the Chief Engineer to Nepal Government "ho should be in charge of
the entire P. W. D. He should have experience of roads, buildings and
irrigation. We do not think that an officer with tbo>e qualifications is
available in Nepal and we, therefore, suggests that an officer of the status
of Superintending Engineer under the Government of India or in one
of the States of India with the requisite e x pereince �hould be deputed
for about 2 years for beioa in �har'e of the Department. Durio i this

-118·

-- - - -----��
 period be will reorganise this Oepartment, arrange for the preparation of
Public Works Manual and Code and train up a successor to himself. The
'
Department should be organised into 3 Circles for the presc nt-( 1 )
Electrical Circle, (2) Irrigation Circle and (3) Roads and Buildings Circle
each in charge of a Superintending Engineer. (Another Road and Building
Circle may be necessary later).
"
109. The existing Chief Engineer, Electricity Department may as
long as he continues, be appointed as Superintending Engineer, Electrical
Circle. He will be in charge of the exisitng two power house as also
distribution of electricity in the valley. He will also be in charge of design
and construction of new generating stations. Further he should be in
charge of the duties of supervision and inspection of private electrical
undertakings in the country. The ropeway Department may continue to be
under his control until Rail ways arc i n a position to take it over. He
should also be in charge of telephones until the Post and Telegraph
Department bas been reorganised and a compete nt person appointed
to man this organisation. He will be the Chief Electrical Adviser to the
Government and will in this capacity continue to assist in all elect rical
projects of the Government including telegraphs, ropeways, etc. even
after the control has been transferred to the P. & T. Department and the
Railways.
1 10. The existing Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, m3y be
appointed as Superintending Engineer, Irrigation Circle. He will be in
charge of the design and construction of new irrigation works and the
general supervision of the existing irrigation works. The existing irrigation
works will however be under the direct control of the Eixecutivc Engin·
cers of the divisions within whose jurisdiction the works are located.
The works will continue to have special staff for repairs and maintenance
as at present, but they will be under the administrative control of the
Executive Engineers concerned.
1 1 1. As regards the Roads and Buildings Circle it should be divid
ed into territorial d ivisions. One of the competent Civil Engineer serving
under the Nepal Government may be appointed as Superintending
Engineer of this Circle. The number of Divisions will naturally depend
upon the volume of work of new construction and repairs and mainten­
ance. Unfortunately the data available is not adequate for the purpo!.C
of determining finally the number of Divisions that will be necessary.
We observe that a provision of Rs. 1 1 ,31,000 was made for works and
buildings and of Rs. 26,36,000 for roads in the budget of the last year
i. e. in all about Rs. 36 lakhs. Out of this amount, however, there was a
lump sum provision of Rs. 25 lak.hs for the construction of new roads
which apparently was not undertaken. Assuming. however, that tho

-1 19-

------ - - --- - - - .
 annual works expenditure on roads and b ui ld i ngs a� also on the mainten·
aoce of irrigation works would be •1f the order of about R�. 30 lakhs, 11nd
having regard to the pllor communications of the c .:>u n try and the
poss1b1hty of Government increasing the budget allotment on the works
expenditure with a view to improve communications, we consider that
5 divisions may be created as follows :-
(l) Valley Division which will be in charge of all roads and
buildi n gs in the Valley including the work allotted to the
Ghar Kaj Department at present. •

(2) Eastern Hills Division.

(3) Western Hills Division.
(4) Eastern Tarai Division.
(5) Western Tarai Division.
Each d1vh.ion will be divided into a number of sub-divisions generally
3 to 4, each in charge of an Assistant Engineer. A char t of the prl>posed
organisation of the P. W. D. is given below: -
Chief Engineer
I
I
I I I
Suptg, Engineer Suptg. Engr. Suptg Engr. ( Roads
(Electrical) (Irrigation) and Buildings)
I
I
l . Valley Divii.ion
2. Eastern Hilts Divisin
3. Western Hills Division
4. Eastern Tarai Division
5. Western Tarai Division
The streng th of. the technical and clerical personel for each circle
division or sub-division will naturally depend upon the load or work. But
it may be of interest to indicace the staff normally s<Jnctioned for these
officesin one of the state Governments of India:-

Circle Office Divisional Office 4-5 Sub-divisional

(5-6 Divisions). (Sub-divi!.ioos) office

Technical Section Accounts Section Technical Section

l Assistant Engineer l Accountant 3 Overseers
2 Overseers l Senior Accounts Clerk No tracers & com-
l Head Draftsman 2 Senior Clerks putor for normal
1 Assistant Draftsman 4 Junior Clerks subdivisional offices.
1 Tracer 1 Stor�-keeper l Tracer for a Pro-
1 Computor. ject sub-division.

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• .A. - ------ - - ------

 Correspondence Section Correspondence Sectloo Clericai Secdort
1 Head Clerk Head Clerk Senior clerk
1 First clerk 2 Senior clerks 3 Junior clerks
1 Senior Accounts clerk 5 Junior clerks (including 2 According as the
3 Senior clerks 2 typists). sub-division is a
6 Junior clerks (including heavy, light or a
2 typists). project sub-division.

Class IV staff Drawing and Projects Class IV staff.

•
Section
1 Naik 3 Overseers 3 Peons
6 Peons l Draftsman 1 Chowkidar, if ne-
I Draftry 1 Asstt. Draftsman cessary
Chowkidar, if nect- 2 Tracers
ssary. 1 Computor
Class IV staff.
l Daftry
l Naik
5 Peons
1 Chowkidar, if necessary.

1 1 2. The accounts work forms a very important part of the P.W.D.

offices especiaJly of the Divisional offices and in India, therefore, the
cadre of Divisional Accountants is under the control of the Accountant
General. We suggest that similarly the Comptroller and Auditor General
should train and post suitable Accountants for each of the divi�ional
P.W.D. office after they are formed. Accounts clerks in divisional as also
in sub-divisional offices will also need training.
1 1 3. We recommend that all c"nstructional work of the Nepal
Government, relating to roads and buildings whether it pertains to
aerodromes or railways or the Electricity Department, should be in
charge of the Roads & Buildings Circle of the P. W. D. It is uneconomi­
cal and undesirable that each small organisation should carry out its
own construction as is being done at present.
1 14. We have already mentioned that it will be necessary to obtain
on loan the services of a Superintending Engineer from India to work as
Chief Engineer. In addition, it will be desirable to obtain the services.of
at least 2 Assistant Engineers, one two function as P. A. to the Chief
Engineer and the other as Executive Engineer of a regular division. It
will also be useful to obtaia the service of a qualified divisional aocoun­
tant to assist the P. W. D. officers in the training of their accounts staff.
115. Communications Wi.1a. -The following oraaniaations fall within
the purview of this wioa:-

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_ ....... - - -
 1 . Post & Telegraphs.
2. Telephones.
3. Wireless.
4. Civil Aviation.
5. Railways.
6. Motor Railways.
116. Post & Telegraphs :-There are at present 8 5 post offices out of
which 9 are exchange post offices; i . e. where exchange of mail bag� with
the corresponding post offices in the Indian territory take place. The
biggest of these post offices is at Ka thmandu. Recently Mr. N. Dovall,
Senior Superintendent of Post and Telegraph, Government of India visited
Kathmandu at the request of the Nepal Government to examine the exis­
ting postal system and to suggest measures for its reorganisation. We
have had the benefit of perusmg his report whicli has JUSt been received
and is being transmitted to the Government of Nepal. We suggest that the
recommendations contained therein may be implemented. He has suggested
inter alia that the services of an officer of the Government of India along
with some trained staff may be borrowed by the Government of Nepal for
effecting reorganisation of the postal system. We consider that it is
essential that this step should be taken for improving the existing system.
It appears from Mr. Dovall's report that the system needs considerable
overhaul.
117. Telephones : -There is an extensive telephone system in the
country organised as follows : -
To the East-
Trunk lines-Kathmandu to Bi1 atnagar, about 360 miles and 1 7
telephone offices.
w�st--
Trunk lines-·-Kathmandu-Pcilpa, about 1 6 1 miles and 7 telephone
offiice,,
Rexaul-Kathmandu-Rexaul-about 7 1 miles and 7 telephone offices.
1 18. In addition there is an independent exchange at Kathmandu.
The department was formerly in charge of Mr. K ilburne, the Cbeif Electri­
cal Engineer, but on transfer of the Electricity Department to the Ministry
of Works, M ines and Power, Mr. Kilburne ceased to be i n charge of this
Department, which is now without a bead. Jn view of the proposed
amalgamation of the W. M . P- M inistry and Transport and Communi­
cations Ministry, we have already suggested that Mr. Kilburne should
arrangements are made.
be put in charge of the Department until other
Our provisional view is that telephones should be a part of the Post &
·Telegraph Dep'artmenL but tbrs question can be further considered afteJ
the working of the Department bas been examined by a telephone expert

-1 22-
 whose service have been asked for from the Government of India.
1 19. Wirele� Department (Akasb Vani) :-The Department was
organised about 3 years ago and controls about 20 wireless stations loca­
ted in different parts of the countty. Each of these stations manned by
Operators mechanics and cleircal staff depending upon the volume of
traffic in the Station and at the head office there is an Engineer-in-charge
for technical matters and a Hakim for administrative work. There is no
single head of the Departmer.t at present. The working of this department
was r.:cently examined by Mr. B. N. Narasimiah, Assistant Director
•
General (wirdess) who has submitted his report for the reorganisation
and expansion of the existing wireless system and it appears that the
Nepal Government are now awaiting the arrival of a wireless expert from
the Government of India to implement the scheme of Mr. Narasimiah
and reorganise the Department. We suggest that the services of a
suitable officer should be made available to the Nepal Government
as early as possible as in veiw of the difficulty of other forms of commun­
ications wireless is the only means by which the Government can keep in
touch with the districts. The system is also available to the public who
can send telegraph messages and its proper maintenance and further
expansion would be a great boon. Subject to the advice of technical
experts of the P. & T. Department we consider that the head of Post
& Telegraph, i . e, the Director General of Posts & Tebgrapbs, should
also be in charge of the Wireless Department as we think it undesirable to
have small seperate departments with independent beads.
120. Civil Aviation.- In addition to the semi-pucca aerodrome at
Kathmandu (which is being improved with the assistance of the Indian
Military Mission), there arc 4 kucha airfields at Pok.hara, Simra, Birat·
nagar and Janakpur. Jn view of the difficult land communications of the
country air travel provides a very quick and convenient mode of
transport and therefore there is scope for improvement and expansion of
the present facilities. The Department is in charge of a Director who has
under him an Assistant Engii:ieer-cum-Aerodrome Officer for Kathmandu
and certain other technical and clerical staff. Since at present there is only
Cine regular service from Patna to Kathmandu, the work relating to tho
regulation of civil aviation as such is very limited and the main function
of the department consists of construction of new aerodromes and main­
taining i.nd improving the existing ones. The construction, repairs and
maintenance of the aerodromes is, however, a function of the P. W. D.
and we have already suggested that this work should be placed in their
charge. The Civil Aviation Department should thus confine itself to the
regulation of civil aviation, control of traffiic and matters pertaining
to maintenance of Government planes1 etc. The existing civil engineering

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_ ...._ ___ _
personnel of the Department should be transferred to the Public Works
Department. Since, as already mentioned, the work relating to regulation
of civil aviation, control of traffic, etc. is not very substantial, it would
suffice to have an administrative officer of Class I stalus to be in charge
of this organization which should function as a section under the P. &
T. Department. The bead of the P. & T. can also be designated as the
bead of Civil Aviation.
121. Railway Department.- The Nepal Goveroment Railway is a
narrow gauge 2' 6" line consisting of 15 miles of fair weather track and •

47 miles of all weather track, Raxaul-Amlektlganj Section 29 miles &

Jainagar, Janakpur Bijolpura section being 33 miles. The total capital
outlay on the railway up to 2007-2008 is stated to be Rs. 2 1 ,8 1 ,3 9 1 and
the net revenue profit reserve Rs. 28,07,209. Tbe working of the railway� ,
therefore, appears to be quite profitable: Gross earnings of the railways
are stated to be Rs. 3,55,682 per year and the working exp�nditure Rs.
2,01,285 thus giving a net revenue profit of Rs. 1,54,397 or 43.5
per cent of the gross earnings. We understand, however. that the
condition of the rolling stock needs considerable improvement and that
on account of the absence of proper delegation of powers to the General
Manager the administration is not functioning very smoothly. The
Government of Nepal have requested the Government of India to spare
the services of a Railway officer to suggest measures for reorganisation
and improvement of the railways. We strongly support this reque:.t.
122. Io addition to the General Manager's office, there is a Separate
Railway department at the headquarters for controlling the railways.
This is however, not necessary and the supervision and policy work
should be dealt with i n the Ministry itself.
123. Motor Railways-There is a small m::>tor railway section from
the ropeway station at Matatirtba to Bhasar Adda (customs office at
Kathmandu), a distance of about 7 miles for transport of goods from
the terminus of ropeway to the city. As the ropeway is now being
stended right up to the city, this organ isation will be abolished
however, it becomes necessary to continue this organisation, suggest
that it as well as the ropeway depart{llent should be place under the
railways.

H-Mlnistry of Planning & De'Velopment

124. The present Ministry of planning and Development consists

of l Secretary, 1 Deputy S:cretary (pos not filled), 2 Assistant Secretaries,
1 Office Superintendent, 2 senior clerks, 4 j unior clerk and l typist. It
is divided into 4 sections--Administrative section which includes
Registry, General Section which deals with calling of mcctings1

-124·
 preparation of agenda, etc. Rc�earch and Statistical section dealing with
the department of economic re<;ources and collection of statistics, check­
up and study section which deal� with study of scaem'!s, control of natural
resources, dealings with F A.O. etc. As will be seen from the above descrip­
tion, the Ministry i s in charge of the following main groups of subjects:-
(a) general policy and coordination regarding planning and
..
development,
(b) control of natural resources,
(c) research and scrutiny of economic problems; and
•
(d) multi-purpose development schemes.
As regards (b) and (d) there is no need for the:.e projects to be
under this M i n istry as the M inistry of Works and Communication
will look after all irrigation and multi-purpose projects; there will
otherwise be unnecessary duplication of Work. As regards (c)
statistics and scrutiny of economic problems, this was formerly under
the Ministry of Finance and we con!.ider t h :st it could with advantage
be retransferred to that Ministry. The Ministry of Finance has in
any case to c.:>llect data regarding financial position, currency, foreign
exchange, import and export position and it is better qualified to
deal generally with economic affc.l irs and there seems to us to be no
room for two M inistries having separate statistical �cctions for the
same purpose. It i'>, therefore, recommended that this work should
be transferred to the M i n istry of Finance. The only subject which
properly belongs to this Ministry is (a) general policy and coordination
of planning and development. A seperate Ministry for this purpose can
hardly be justified, especially as in the initial stages planning has to be
done on a modest and practicable scale.
125. As a team of officers for studying the development plans of the
Government of Nepal was being deputed by the Government of India
(it has already left for that country) we did not consider it necessary
to go into the details of the schemes prepared by thi� M inistry. We were
however, glad to note that topmost priority was proposed to be given
to communications, the order of priority being:-
(a) wirless stations;
(b) aerodromes; and
(c) roads.
Thu'i in our view, appears to be quite sound. We were also informed
about certain irrigation and multi-purpose projects, viz. the Kali
Project and the Kosi project in which the Government of Nepal is iot;re­
sted. At the same time we gathered that the Ministry intend to appciint a
Planning Commission composed partly of non-officials to work out a
comprehensive plan, in addition to a number of sub-Committees under

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_ ...
__ --
the chairmanship of the various Ministers. Subject to the expert advice
of the team of officers who have been deputed i'l connection with the
scrutiny of the Nepal Government's development plans, we fell that it
will be undesirable at this �tage for the Nepal Government, to have a
body like a Planning Commission having regard to the size of its plans
and available reso u rces. It may be better to ask the various Ministries
themselves to prepare specific schemes which could be dovetailed into an
overall co-ordinated plan by the Ministry of Planning and Development.
126. We have already referred to the transfer of the work dealt
with by the Agriculture secton of the Ministry of Agriculture and
irrigation as also the work relating to the mineral resources section dealt
with by the Ministry of W. M. & P. Ministry to this M inistry. The
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation conl>ists of l Secreta1y, I Deputy
Secretary, 1 As s istant Secretary, 4 Senior clerks, 6 junior cleks and l
typist. The Irrigation department is under tho control of this Ministry
but it has been proposed to transfer this to the M in i� t1 y of works and
Communications. That M inistry will, bow-ever, have to work in coordina­
tion with the reorganised Ministry of Planning and Development for the
purpose of selecting irrigation projects. We suggest that the Ministry of
Planning and Development should be constituted as follows:

Secretary

I
I
Deputy Secy. (Agriculture)
I
Dy. Secy. (Planning)

I
A!'sistant Secy.
Assistant secy.
Planning and
Agriculture Mineral Resources.
Veterinary
and Animal
Husbandry and
Fi sheries
.

Cooperation.
There will thus be 1 Secretary, 2 Deputy Secretaries and 2 Assi ­

stant Secretaries in this organisation.

1 27. Agriculture Department :- This Department has, it appears
received considerable attention from the GO\•ernment of Nepal in recent
years. It is in charge of a Director and is divided into 6 sections:-
1. Agronomy.
2. Agriculture extension.

-1 26-
 �. Agriculture irrigation.
4. Livestock and dairy development.
5. Horticulture.
6. Fisheries.

.. It appears that it is also proposed to have a seventh section for

research. From the information supplied to us it seems that it is manned
by properly qualified (though probably not with adequate experience)
, officers. I o the matter of Agricultural extension particularly the Depart­
ment has been taking considerable interest by opening a number of
demonstration and experimental farms. We have already suggested the
transfer of the wterinary section from the Ministry of Health to this
Ministry and we suggest that in order to have proper control the1e
should be o ne Deputy Director of Veterin:iry and Animal Husbandry for
both the sections.

I. Ministry of Education, Health and Local Self Government

128. The Education Ministry has a Sec1etary, 2 Deputy Secretaries
3 Asi.istant Secretaries and 1 1 clerical staff. According to information
supplied to us,there are two Degrt:C: Colleges, three Tntermediate Colle­
ges, 40 High Schools , 150 Middle Schools, 380 primary schools an,l 75
basic schools, io addition to 274 Sanskrtt and Bhasha Pathshalas. The
approximate number of pupils to all these institutions other than Path­
sh alas was stated to be 1 56,050 and in the Pathshalas 10,010.
129. In the Education Department there is a Directior General, a
. Dirctor of Sanskrit st ud ies, a Director of Archaeology, a Curator for the
Museum, a Hakim for the Zoo and an Adbyaksh for the Nepal Bhasha
Prakashini Samiti. The staff is young though keen. It Would be desirable
to have an eminent educationist for a short time to advi'le on tho
preparation of a proper scheme of education both technical and literary.
There should be no hesitation in advertising for and recruiting teachers
and professors from outside i.bould it become necessary to do so. It
would be desirable to mould the educational system in such a way that it
has a technical bias and does not mt::rely produce a large numcr cf matri­
culates who may be unemployed and fall easy victims to extremist and
violent doctrines.
130. We are recommending a single Mioisl ry of Education, Public
Health and Local Self-Government. The officer staff of this new Ministry
at the Secretariat should be as follows:-

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 Secretary
I
I I
Deputy Secretary Deputy Secretary
(Education) (Health and L. S. G.)
I I
Assistant Secretary
I I
Asstt. Secretay Asstt. Secrdary
(Health) (Loc;tl Self-Government)

1 3 1 . It is desirable that the Superior Inspection staff should be

carefully selected ard trained and adequate arrangements should be
made for the training of teachers. The Head of the Education Depart­
ment ,:;hould be called Director of Education or Dir.!ctor General of
Education and should be in overall charge of the whole department
including Sanskrit studies, University and technical education.
1 32. The Colleges are affiliated to the University of Patna and
there is a local Board of Secondry Education which holds the school
Leaving Certificate Examination.

HEALTH

133. The Ministry consists of a Secretary, a Deputy Secretary, 2

Assistant Secretaries and 9 clerical staff. The head of the Medical
Department is the Director General, under whom there is an officer
in charge of Terai Hospitals, a Superintendent of Town Hospitals, a
Superintendent for Tokba Sanatorium and the Ayurvedic, Homeopathic
and Uoani Ausbadhalayas. Oa the assumption that problems of h'!lman
and cattle diseases are common, veterinary hospitals have also been
placed under the Director General of Medical Department. There arc 24
hospitals, 9 dispensaries under Military. compounders and 10 under
departmental compounders. The latter also serve as Sales Depots or Fair 4
Price shops for selling medicines. Unlike in India, the Director General
is himself allowed private practice.
1 34. There is very little preventive work as such undertaken. There
is no regular system of vaccination. During the cold weather, on a
requisition being received, stocks o f vaccine are sent to the Bara Hakims
who arrange to have some vaccination carried out through the local
doctors, compounders etc. We suggest that whole time vaccinators should
be appointed for each district.
135. The Health Ministc1 and Secretary were not happy about
tbe way in which the bo�pitals were being run. Our recommendations

-128-
 are 11 follow•:
(a) There is no need for a separate Health Ministry. There should
be a single Ministry viz. "the Education, Health and Local
Self Government Ministry".
(b) It would be wrong to have a non-technical man as Head of
the Me<lical and Health Departments. If for any reason the
present arrangements arc considered to be unsatisfactory,
there should be no hesitation in importing a highly qualified
,
physician or surgeon with administrative experience as head
of the Department. We are of course unable to pronounce any
opinion on the work of the present incumbent •.

(c) It would be desirable to think out a proper scheme of public

health administration and improvement of hospitals. We
understood that there is a lot of tape worm disea�e and
diseases attributable to lack of iodine and excess of mica in
water. In the Terai there is considerable malaria. The arran­
gements for the disposal of town refuse and filth require a
great deal of improvement. All this should be attended to.
This would mean adequate financial provision for the Depart­
ment and proper staffing and plans.
(d} There is a great shortage of trained medical personnel. Alth­
ough arrangements exist for training compounders it is desira­
ble to send more and more people for higher medical and
public health training at suitable institutions.

LOCAL SELF GOVERNMENT

1 36. The Ministry consists of a Secretary, 2 Deputy Secretaries, 2
Assistant Secretaries and 1 2 clerical staff. It bas under its control Munici­
palities, the Panchayat Orgaoi,acion, Government Water workq the Samar
Jung Company-an old pioneer compaov-and the Fire Brigade. This de­
partment is also responsible for the maintooaoce of roads in the Valley.
There is no engineering staff under the department and bridge& are looked
after by the P. W. D In our view the work of looking after the roads in
the Valley should be transferred to the P. W. D .
137. About 100 Panchayats are stated to have been established 3 or
4 years ago and more than 100 have been established under the present
regime. Recently, 40 Panchayat officers with 40 senior clerks and 40
junior clerks have been appointed and sent out all over the country for
organ ising Panchayats.
138. In our experience, this is not the best method of promoting
Panchayats. We trust the Pancbayat officers have been properly selected.
Panchayats �nnot be imposed on villaies where there may be factions

.-129-
or ground has not been pJeparcd for 1ucce11tul WQrkina. U would �
l ry co train tho Panchayat officers themselves in
DCCela their work and
then post them at district headquarters and other places. Their first task
must be to educate people and propose, in consultation with tho Bara
Hakim, places where Panchayats may be s1arte<i. Io the initial stages,
Panchayats require ve• y careful nursing and guidance in the exercise of
thoir judicial and taxation powers. It would be better to emphasise tho
oonstructive aspects of the work of Pancbayats and encourage them to
undertake various ameliorative measures on the basis of selfbelp and
co.operation. In the time of the Ranas, village tracks and foot paths
were kept in repair through forced labour. It should now be a matter of
pride for the villagers voluntarily to keep the communications in their
area in good condition. The work of the Pancbayat officers will require
careful supervision and district officers should be encouraged to aHi&t
the Panchayat officers aud to inspect their work when they aro tourin1
about.
139. Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, Birgung, and Biratnagar are
stated to bave M1nicipalities. The elected members of the Kathmandu
Municipality resigned some, time ago and that Municipality as well aa
the Municipalities. of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur are now being managed by
Government. The Municipality of Birgunj bas not been constituted yet.
Elections were in progress in Biratnagar but they were not being held
under the old municipal Act which was not considered suitable but
under Regulations issued by those who rebelled against the Rana regime,
assumed control of Biratnagar and constituted a Municipality, with
powers specified by themselves A special. A' in has now been passed for
Biratnagar.
140. The Water Works and the Fire Brigade, unleu they are
municipal departments, should in our view bo placed under the P .W.O.
1 4 1 . We are recommending that there is no need for a separate
Local Self Government Ministry and a single Ministry of Education
Health and Local Self Government should be adequate.

J.--Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Civil Supplies

142. This Ministry deals with the following subjects:-

(a) Commerce, including registration of companies, registration
of firms, partnersbipi., registration of patents, trade marks
and designs.
(b) Industries including Weights and Measures and Cottage
Industries.
(c) Central purchase.
(d) Civil Supplic1 Department.

· -1 30-

J
 143. Further tbe subject of labour policy and labour disputes is
also allotted to this Ministry, but apparently no labour legislation has so
far been undertaken. The work of trade and commerce including control
of imports and exports as also tariff, falls within the purview of this
Ministry. All this however docs not give much work to the Ministry. So
� far as imports arc concerned, Nepal is almost wholly dependent on
lodia and has not introduced aoy control on imports. As regards exports,
except for foodgrains and jute, no control apparently exists.
144. We do not suggest any changes in the allocation of subjects
in regard to this Ministry except in respect of "food" which is now
under the Ministry of Food and Land Administration, but which as has
been pointed out elsewhere should be transferred to the civil supplies
S...
�tion of this Ministry. The work done i o respect of foodgrains relates
mainly to:
(1) purchase of foodstuffs for the Army, and
(2) grant of permits for export of food-grains from N:pal to
India. Nepal is generally surplus in tho matter of foodgrains
and there is neither control over distribution nor any priCf
control.
We consider that this Ministry can without any difficulty take
over this additional work, the admioi�tration of which should bo under
the Civil Supplies ·Department.
145. We observe that the management of the Printing Press has
been under the distribution of subjects allocated to this Ministry. In
actual practice we understand that the Printing Press is in charge of
the Director of Publicity. Further the purchase and distribution of
stationery is not allocated to any Ministry. as there is at present no
central arrangement for distribution of stationery. We suggest that for
the reason that the Stores Purchase Organisation is under this Ministry,
the Stationery and Printing Department should also be placed under this
M inistry.
1 46. The strength of the Ministry is as follows : -
Secretary l
Deputy Secretaries 2
Asstt. Secretaries 2
Senior clerks 4
�p�� 2
Junior clerks 6
Record Keepers 2
147. Ono Deputy Secretary and one Assistant Secretary look
after commerce and Industries (including Cottage Industries and one
Deputy Secretary and one Assi�tant �etary aro in cbarae of Civil

-1 31-
 supplies and Centralised Purchases. We do. not suggest any ch ange in the
strength of the Ministry .
148. Th ere are the following Departments under the control of
this ministry :
1 . Industries Department.
f ..
2. Department of Centralised Purchase.
3. Ci viJ Supplies Department.
1 W. Industries Department-The post of Director of Industrie3 is
lying vac.tnt at present and the Deputy Director is in charge of tho
organisation. In add i t io n
to Ind1.1stries (including Cottage industries) this
Department is also in charge of registration of companies, partnerships,
firms, patents, trade marks aod de'ligns. In regard to ludustries, its main
function is l icensing of private mills and other industries. Weights and
Measures have also been a llotted to this Department but so far no work
has been done in this behalf. Labour and Factory legislation is also
allocated to this Department but work has not yet commenced.
1 50. There is a fairly extensive Cottage Industries Section in this
Department under the charge of a separate Deputy Director of
Industries. It runs a number of training classes both for boys and girls
particularly in hand-spiuning and weaving. Sericulture, beekeeping. etc.
15 l . We suggest t hat the post of Director of Industries should
be filled by a well qualified engineer or industrial chemist as early as
possible and if no local candidate is available one may be obtained from
India by recruitment through the Nepal P ublic Service Commission. We
would also suggest that factory legislation shou.ld be undertaken to
regulate the conditions of work in factories aa there are, we understand,
a number of factories in the Terai includig one Jute Mill, two textile
M i lls one Sugar Mill ao:l two Match Factories and one post of lospector
,

of Factories to be filled by a qualified Mechanical engineer may b�

created. A number of other factories are l i kely to spring u p .
15 l. A s regards labour w e d o n o t think ti.at a separate post of
Commissioner of Labour is necessary at this stage. The Deputy Director
of Industries could attend to this work i n addition to his other duties.
It may . he necessary to appoint a Labour Officer for purposes of
conciliatioo, etc. Lastly we suggest th at for work refating to companies,
of which there are S private limited and 42 public limited and of firms,
a person qualified in commercial acc�unts or i n law should be appo i nted
as Head Clerk of A5sistant Registrar.
1 53. Department of Central Purch aus.-This organisation consists
of 'Jinsi Adda' at the Headquarters and a Purchase Office at Calcutta.
Ind e nts for stores costing more than Rs. 500 are sent to the Jinsi Adda
and these used to be subm i tted to tile Commander-in-Chief who ·o�

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tained the Prime Minister;s orders (or taking action regarding the
purchases of these storec;. 'Jinsi Add:i' thereafter used to cross mandate
the indents to t'1e Calcutta organisation or placed orders through the
agents of Nepal Government (some private companie3) in the U.K. The
Calcutta office made purchases io India generally by means of limited
tenders. The sanction of the Prime Mi nister had to be obtained again to
the actual purchase and later to the payment of the bills. The present
procedure is some what similar except that the indents are submitted by
the 'Jinsi Adda' to the Ministry of Commerce and industry instead of the
Commander-in-Chief and the Prime Minister. Open tenders arc seldom
invited and there is no inspection organisation of any kind.
154. We suggest that this Department may be reorganised and
certain powers delegated to the various officers of the organization. Jn
the first place we recommend that this organization should constitute a
branch of the Director of Industries' Office and an officer of the status of
the Deputy Director of Industries should be in charge of the organization.
He should be given powers to sanction purchases of indents not exceeding
Rs. 10,000 provided the lowest acceptlble Tender is prop.>sed to be
approaved. The Director of Industries may have the power to sanction
purchases up to Rs. 25,000 and to permit relaxation of procedure in the
case of purchase which a Deputy Director is otherwise competent to
sanction. All purchases which are beyond the power of the Director of
Industries should be refered to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
which will then issue orders in consultation with tho Ministry of Finance.
Otherwise also definite rules of procedure for inviting open tenders
should be laid down. A system of tender by open advertisement may also
be introduced.
155. Further it is for the consideration of the Gove1nmeot of India
and Government of Nepal whether the facility of the Stores Purchasing
Organizations of the Government of Cndia within India may be utilised
by the latter Government for large purchases exceeding Rs. l lakh, on the
usual terms.
156. Stationery &: Printing.- At present all officer make their
own purchases of stationery articlu including paper. In the districts
normally hand-made paper and indigenous pens and inks are used and
therefore local purchase is not disadvantdgeous. But at the hcadq1:1arterio,
particularly after the organisation of the Secretariat, large purchases of
paper and stationery articles are being made by tho individual Ministries
and Departments. We suggest that this work should be centralised. In
the first instance only the offices at Kathmandu may be supplied with the
statioaary stores from this oraanisation, but later wheo the demands
i�ue 1upplics may bo made to the districts as well. A post of Superin-

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tendent of Printing and St a tionery may be cre ated with a small godown
and a s u fficient staff for stocking & distribution of stores. The purchases
may be made in consultation with the Stores Purchasing Organisation .

For the fir!>t six months or a year, if the Nepal Government and the
Government of India agree arrangements may be made to supply them
with important articles of stationary in bulk on the usual terms. One
capacity of the existing Printing Press may be expanded to enable it to
carry out the increasing vol ume of printing wor.11.. of Government but
pending that services of private printing presses would have to be used.
I 57. Civil Supplies Department-This Department i s divided into
three Sections as shown below ;-

SECT10N A

Textile: Deals with the procu rement and distribution of cloth,

yarn and cotton.

SECTION B

Salt, Sugar and Petroleum Pr oducts : Deals with the procurement

and d i stribut ion of �alt, sugar and petroleum products.

SEC TION C

Iron, Cement, Coal, Pipes and Corrugated Iron Sheets : Deals

with the procurement and distribution of iron, cement
coal, pipes and corrugated iron sheets.
ln respect of all the articles, quotas are sanctioned for various private
dealers on the bas is of quotas allotted by the Government of India and
there is a permit syi:.tem for issue of these articles to the consumers. In
addition, a fourth Section for foodgrains will have to be created.
1 58. The office i � under the Director assisted by a Sardar and
obout 30 non-gazetted ministerial staff. There arc no separate organisa­
tions of the Di."p artm ent in the districts and the 'Bara Hakims of the
Districts attend to the work. At Kathmandu, however there is a separate
office known as Control Adda' under the direct supervision of this
'

Department and it docs the work relating to the distribution of salt,

sugar and petroleum products in the Valley as also in west I and East
I Districts.

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