A stronger center, or a stronger state?
Summary
Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s administration is centralizing digital governance, information systems and implementation monitoring in the Prime Minister’s Office, prompting debate over whether Nepal is building a stronger state or merely a stronger center. The essay warns that greater coordination can also mean greater executive power unless safeguards, transparency and institutional capacity spread beyond Kathmandu.
Key Points
- Balendra Shah’s government is moving digital governance, information systems and implementation monitoring closer to the Prime Minister’s Office.
- The essay argues that centralizing data and talent can improve coordination, but it can also concentrate power and weaken ministries and local institutions.
- It calls for safeguards on access to integrated government data, records of who views it, and protection for independent constitutional bodies.
- The central question is whether Nepal is building institutions that remain accountable and capable under any future prime minister.
