Interaction with the Heads of the Policy and Planning Division/Branch Heads of the Ministries and Federal Agencies

Interaction with the Heads of the Policy and Planning Division/Branch Heads of the Ministries and Federal Agencies

January 25, 2024

January 25, 2024

The Policy Research Institute (PRI) organized an interaction program with the Heads of the Policy and Planning Division/Branch of the ministries and federal agencies of the Government of Nepal. In this program, the institute informed about its activities and plans and asked the invited officers for suggestions on urgent research topics, research quality, mutual access to data and information, cooperation, and the expansion and improvement of the PRI’s work and programs.

At the beginning of the program, Mr. Laxman Bhattarai, the Office Manager of the institute, welcomed the invited officials and informed about the working mechanism of the institute, while the Head of Research Department of the Institute, Dr. Hari Sharma Neupane, gave a detailed presentation on the institution’s structure, human resources, progress in research, current and upcoming plans, and topics for discussion. After that, the Spokesperson of the institute and the Head of the Information and Knowledge Management Department, Dr. Deepak Kumar Khadka, gave a brief presentation on the theoretical basis of policy research and functional separation and autonomy of research function and policy function in the policy cycle; the concept of the Evidence-Pyramid to determine the strength of evidence to be generated for Evidence-based Policymaking; policy research of various length and intensity; strengthening of Research Ecosystem, PRI as a National Center for Policy Research Quality Assurance; fighting misinformation; and Policy Conflict Resolution, to clarify the unique role of the institute.

After the institute’s introductory presentation, the participants made suggestions on the urgent research areas; the need for coherent unification and mainstreaming of isolated policies; the situation where many agencies are conducting policy research through their own research units or consultants; the lack of assurance that there is no unnecessary duplication; the need for awareness program and training on policy process and research to civil servants; the continuation of wrong policies or wrong factors attributed to impactful policies; the strengthening of PRI by extension of its roles and services, and so on. Dr. Deepak Kumar Khadka made closing remarks by noting major suggestions and queries that came up during the interaction.

Participants
Invited guests

  1. Kamala Ghimire (Under-Secretary; Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply)
  2. Krishna Kumari Shrestha (Under-Secretary; Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation)
  3. Ganesh Prasad Bhatt (Joint-Secretary; Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation)
  4. Geeta Kumari Homegain (Joint-Secretary; Public Service Commission)
  5. Januka Subedi (Under-Secretary; Muslim Commission)
  6. Dr. Krishna Prasad Poudel (Head of Division (11th Level); Ministry of Health and Population)
  7. Thaneshwar Gautam (Joint-Secretary; Ministry of Home Affairs)
  8. Narayan Prasad Nihure (CDE; Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport)
  9. Padam Raj Pandey (Director; National Statistics Office)
  10. Bed Prasad Bhandari (Deputy-Secretary; Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority)
  11. Bhagirathi Gaire, Director (Under-Secretary; Public Procurement Monitoring Office)
  12. Bhim Prasad Tiwari (Under-Secretary; National Dalit Commission)
  13. Mukta Baskota (Under-Secretary; National Vigilance Centre)
  14. Rajan Silwal (Director; National Statistics Office)
  15. Ramchandra Dhakal (Joint-Secretary; National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission)
  16. Rekha Pandey (K.C.) (Under-Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers)
  17. Vinay Mishra (Under-Secretary; Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs)
  18. Bishnu Raj Dhakal (Joint-Secretary; Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security)
  19. Shobha Pandey (Branch Officer; Indigenous Nationalities Commission)
  20. Sanju Lamichhane (CDE; Ministry of Water Supply)
  21. Santosh Acharya (Under-Secretary; National Human Rights Commission Nepal)
  22. Samjhana Devkota (Under-Secretary; Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens)
  23. Sita Niraula (Under-Secretary; National Women Commission)
  24. Sunita Pahari (Branch Officer; National Inclusion Commission)
  25. Suresh Kumar Wagle (CDE; Ministry of Urban Development)