A public policy dialogue was held with an aim to provide feedback to the draft of the Geological Information Infrastructure Policy 2024.

A public policy dialogue was held with an aim to provide feedback to the draft of the Geological Information Infrastructure Policy 2024.

May 5, 2024

May 5, 2024

Policy Research Institute

The Policy Research Institute organized a public policy dialogue program to receive feedback from stakeholders for further improvement of the Geographical Information Infrastructure Policy 2024 drafted by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation. The event was attended by academics, policy-making level staff of the provincial and federal ministries, various agencies, and experts.

Mr. Laxman Prasad Bhattarai, Office Manager of the Policy Research Foundation, welcomed the participants and Mr. Gokarna Mani Dwadi, Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation spoke about the expectations from the programme and Mr. Ashok Kumar Bhusal, Under-secretary, made an introductory presentation of the draft policy. The participants then shared their views and suggestions on the production and use of geographical information, quality assurance, use of information in development projects, and various aspects of the draft policy. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Deepak Kumar Khadka, Senior Research Fellow of the Policy Research Institute.

At the end of the program, Mr. Ramkumar Sapkota, an expert who is also serving as an external reviewer for the Institute, expressed his views together with a summary of the views expressed by participants in the program, and Mr. Ganesh Bhattarai, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperation and Poverty Alleviation, recalling how he learned about the role of the Policy Research Institute in doing research and providing feedback to policy formulation, appreciated the deep and all-round suggestions received from the dialogue program organized today.

Participants

Invited guests

  1. Gokarna Mani Duwadee (Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  2. Ganesh Prasad Bhatt (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  3. Ashok Kumar Bhusal (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  4. Damodar Wagle (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  5. Sumana Aryal (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  6. Ashmira Dahal (Survey Officer, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  7. Namuna Ghimire (Survey Officer, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  8. Prof. Dr. Umesh Kumar Mandal (Head of Department, Central Department of Geography, TU)
  9. Dr. Chabi Lal Chidi (Assistant-Professor, Central Department of Geography, Tertiary University)
  10. Dr. Bhola Nath Dhakal (General Secretary, Nepal GIS Society)
  11. Roop Narayan Dhakal (Officer, National Association of Rural Municipalities)
  12. Niroj Timalsina (Expert)
  13. Dr. Suchita Shrestha (Under-Secretary, Department of Mines and Geology)
  14. Dr. Yogendra Mishra (Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project)
  15. Mahesh Prasad Dhungana (Director, National Statistics Office)
  16. Ram Kumar Sapkota (Director, Land Management Training Centre)
  17. Raj Kumar Giri (Under-Secretary, Forest Research and Training Centre)
  18. Narayan Prasad Bhandari (Joint Secretary, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction)
  19. Purna Prasad Pandey (Chief Survey Officer, Department of Survey)
  20. Ram Sundar Sah (Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Botany)
  21. Govind Kumar Shrestha (Forest Officer, Forest and Land Conservation Department)
  22. Kamal Bahadur Thapa (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Law, Koshi Province)
  23. Tulsi Ram Bhagat (Section Officer, Ministry of Industry, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Koshi Province)
  24. Kishore Khadka (Law Officer, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, Koshi Province)
  25. Bechan Kumar Mahato (Ministry of Forests and Environment, Madhesh Province)
  26. Rajendra Koirala (Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Bagmati Province)
  27. Tikaram Poudel (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, Gandaki Province)
  28. Madhav Prasad Bhattarai (Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, Lumbini Province)
  29. Manju Kumari Pokharel (Officer, Ministry of Home Affairs and Law, Lumbini Province)
  30. Ramesh Subedi (CDE, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development, Karnali Province)
  31. Krishna Prasad Devkota (Officer, Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Karnali Province)
  32. Debaki Rawat (Section Officer, Karnali Province Planning Commission)
  33. Krishna Prasad Nepal (Under-Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law, Sudurpashchim Province)

Policy Research Institute

  1. Laxman Prasad Bhattarai
  2. Dr. Deepak Kumar Khadka
  3. Dr. Mukti Ram Rijal
  4. Rija Manandhar
  5. Bimal Chandra Sharma
  6. Jyoti Luintel
  7. Demij Maharjan
  8. Rakshya Aryal
  9. Sanjog Singh Kadayat
  10. Soniya Basyal