Nepal PM Balen accepts Modi invite, unveils anti-VIP reform push at home | India News
New Delhi: Nepal Prime Minister Balendra “Belen” Shah accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to visit India even as he unveiled a 100-point governance agenda at home targeting VIP culture, political influence and bureaucracy on campuses, delays in public services, free healthcare access for poor children and access to safe schools for young children. Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal said that the Government of Nepal has accepted the invitation and the Foreign Ministries of both countries are now preparing for the visit. He indicated that the visit to New Delhi would be Shah’s first major diplomatic outreach after taking charge. The last official visit of a Nepali Prime Minister to India was in June 2023 by Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prakhdan”.Meanwhile, introducing a raft of changes, the new government in Kathmandu has proposed reducing the number of federal ministries, banning political affiliations for parts of the state apparatus and replacing party-affiliated student organizations with non-party platforms.The reform plan directly targets political influence in education and the civil service. Under the new mandate, party-affiliated student organizations in schools and universities will be disbanded within 90 days and replaced with non-partisan student councils or “Voice of Students” platforms. Announcing the move, Shah said, “Schools and colleges will no longer serve as arenas of political activity but only as centers of education.”Shah called for the removal of pictures of political leaders from government offices and a ban on government advertisements in private media outlets. And in announcements that received applause, Shah said ministers and civil servants must send their children to government schools, rename universities bearing foreign or colonial names and provide jobs to the families of students killed during the 2025 protests.A key part of the new package targets preferential treatment in public life, including facilities around roadblocks and VIP convoys, while demanding stricter accountability in institutions. The agenda also includes a “zero pending file” campaign to reduce bureaucratic delays and a proposal to reduce the number of federal ministries to 17.Gen Z activists who were at the forefront of the September 2025 protests are now watching to see if the new government delivers on its promises. Majeed Ansari, 25, a final-year law student, said, “Laws should be made delivery-oriented and state authorities should be restructured from the common man’s perspective. The overall reform is to simplify governance and make public services accessible.”
