An Interactive Meeting with Chief Secretary Concludes
Date: 14 December 2022
Place: Policy Research Institute, Narayanhiti
Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal Mr Shanker Das Bairagi visited Policy Research Institute (PRI) at the invitation of PRI Executive Chairperson Dr Bishnu Raj Upreti. Following a warm welcome to Mr Bairagi by the PRI board and staff, an introductory interaction was organized around PRI’s strategic priorities, achievements and outstanding challenges facing PRI.
During the interaction, PRI Chairperson Upreti requested the Chief Secretary to initiate the process (a) to table again the PRI bill in the National Assembly (as was done previously), (b) to establish an endowment fund for PRI’s resource autonomy and sustainability, (c) to undertake the O&M survey as proposed by PRI, (d) to announce PRI founding day as the Policy Day, and (e) to use the PRI-prepared ‘guidelines for public policy making’ by all ministries to ensure that the policies they prepare follow a process and comply with basic policy-making standards.
Mr Bairagi thanked the PRI board and staff for the meeting, which he was looking forward to for some time, wished the new board members a successful tenure and appreciated the talent within PRI. Evidence-based policymaking is not institutionalized yet, Mr Bairagi said. Policies not founded on evidence – or demands – do not deliver. He added PRI was founded to address this gap. Professionalism, he underlined, should be the defining tenet of policy research, which PRI should ensure all the time by promoting originality and avoiding any possibility of duplication through a rigorous review of previous works.
The Chief Secretary assured PRI of his support as regards the PRI bill, the Policy Day and the use of policy-making guidelines by ministries, as proposed by PRI Chairperson. The Chief Secretary also appreciated the proposal to establish an endowment fund as a way to ensure the sustainability of PRI. He also suggested exploring other options as well while agreeing to the PRI position to not accept foreign funds for policy research.