America and World / August 19, 2026

Good governance, public service delivery, budget implementation and citizen satisfaction to serve as key performance indicators, with greater accountability for unmet targets

KATHMANDU — Prime Minister Balendra Shah and members of his Cabinet have signed performance agreements aimed at ensuring that the government’s policies, programs, annual budget and ministry-level priorities are implemented within specified deadlines and produce measurable results.

The agreements were signed and exchanged during a ceremony held Wednesday at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers at Singha Durbar. They include targets related to good governance, social justice, effective public service delivery, development projects, and broader economic and social progress.

Through the initiative, the government plans to move beyond broad political commitments and declarations by evaluating ministries against clearly defined targets, fixed timelines and key performance indicators (KPIs).

The Prime Minister’s Office is expected to monitor implementation of government policies, annual budget priorities and nationally important projects while regularly assessing the progress and performance of individual ministries.

Ministers From Finance, Home, Foreign Affairs and Technology Sign Agreements

Among the ministers signing performance agreements with Prime Minister Shah were Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sobita Gautam, and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Mahabir Pun.

Other signatories included Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities and Social Security Minister Sita Badi; Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Pratibha Rawal; Health and Food Safety Minister Nisha Mehta; Education and Sports Minister Sasmit Pokharel; Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Khadga Raj Poudel; Information and Communications Minister Dr. Bikram Timilsina; Agriculture, Forest and Environment Minister Gita Chaudhary; and Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister Gauri Kumari.

Prime Minister Shah has retained responsibility for the Ministry of Defence.

Two Ministers Absent From Ceremony

Infrastructure Development Minister Sunil Lamsal was unable to attend the program due to illness, officials said.

Similarly, Youth, Labour and Employment Minister Ramji Yadav could not participate because he was attending a parliamentary session.

Their respective performance agreements are expected to be completed separately in accordance with established procedures.

Prime Minister Also Signs Agreement With Chief Secretary

Prime Minister Shah also signed a performance agreement with Nepal government Chief Secretary Govinda Bahadur Karki.

The government expects the performance-based accountability system, which has begun at the level of the prime minister, ministers and chief secretary, to eventually be extended effectively to ministry secretaries, departmental chiefs and heads of subordinate government offices.

Such a system is intended to make responsibilities more transparent by establishing which agency is responsible for a particular task, when the work must be completed, how much of the target has been achieved, and who will be held accountable when objectives are not met.

Public Services and Citizen Satisfaction to Be Measured Alongside Budget Spending

Under the new performance evaluation approach, the government says success will no longer be judged solely by how much of a ministry’s budget has been spent.

Instead, assessments will also consider quality of public service delivery, completion of development projects, grievance management, citizen satisfaction, efficient use of public funds and actual results achieved.

A meeting of government secretaries chaired earlier by Chief Secretary Karki had directed ministries and heads of government agencies to enter into annual performance agreements and to make the quality of services directly affecting citizens a major part of their evaluations.

The assessments are therefore expected to examine whether projects were completed on schedule, how easily citizens were able to access government services, how quickly complaints were addressed, whether public funds were used effectively and whether publicly announced targets were actually achieved.

Strong Focus on Good Governance and Public Service Reform

The Shah administration has placed priority on controlling corruption, reforming the bureaucracy, expanding digital government services, improving fiscal discipline and making public services more citizen-friendly.

Particular attention is being given to offices that have frequent direct interaction with the public, including land revenue and survey offices, transportation agencies, labour offices, district administration offices and police units.

The government aims to make services at these institutions faster, simpler and more transparent while reducing the influence of intermediaries and brokers.

Efforts are also underway to strengthen public grievance mechanisms through government websites, mobile applications, digital platforms and QR-code-based systems.

The Prime Minister’s Office has identified regular monitoring of policy and budget implementation, ministry-level performance assessments, reviews of national priority projects, and oversight of irregularities and corruption as key areas of responsibility.

Strong Majority Brings Greater Pressure to Deliver Results

The government led by Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party was formed with a clear majority in the House of Representatives, giving the administration a comparatively strong political foundation to make decisions and implement its policy agenda.

That parliamentary strength, however, also brings greater public expectations for the government to translate its election promises into visible and measurable results.

Employment generation, improvement in government services, corruption control, faster implementation of development projects, economic reform and tangible improvements in citizens’ daily lives are likely to become key tests of the administration’s performance.

Signing Agreements Is Only the Beginning

The signing of performance agreements should not itself be considered a government achievement. Their real value will depend on how many of the agreed targets are achieved, how transparently progress reports are made public, whether poor performance leads to accountability, and whether citizens experience meaningful improvements in government services.

If the government consistently applies regular monitoring, public progress reviews, evidence-based evaluations and clear accountability for results, the agreements could become an effective mechanism for making Nepal’s public administration more results-oriented, accountable and citizen-centered.

However, without a strong system for monitoring implementation and enforcing responsibility, the initiative risks becoming another government commitment that remains largely on paper.