200 Days Of Balen Government: Progress On 100 Point Reform Agenda

Kathmandu, October 13, 2026

Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s government has reached the 200-day mark, bringing renewed attention to the 100-point governance reform agenda introduced when the government took office on March 27.

The agenda was presented as a results-based programme covering public administration, digital services, corruption control, public service delivery, legislation, economic reform, infrastructure and social issues. The government later said it had achieved 87.2 percent progress at the 100-day mark, with 70 of the 100 points described as implemented. Independent assessments, however, found a much lower level of completion, showing that the biggest difference is often between a policy being announced or initiated and the same reform being fully implemented for citizens.

Now, more than six months after the agenda was introduced, several commitments have moved forward, while others remain in progress or have missed their original deadlines.

Administrative Reform

One of the most visible changes has been the restructuring of the federal government. The government reduced the number of ministries from 22 to 18, although the original reform agenda had targeted 17 ministries. The government has also reviewed government boards, committees, and projects with overlapping or unnecessary functions.

The administration has also pushed performance-based management, including performance agreements with government secretaries and measures aimed at reducing pending files.

Another major commitment was the Federal Civil Service Bill. The original agenda gave the government a 45-day target for the bill. That deadline was missed, and the delay became one of the major criticisms of the government's legislative progress.

However, the situation has now changed. The government registered the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2083 in Parliament on October 1. The proposed law covers recruitment, promotion, retirement, pensions, inclusion and relations between federal, provincial and local administrations. It also proposes performance-based evaluation for civil servants.

Digital Government And Public Services

Digital governance was another major part of the 100-point agenda.

The government has expanded services through the Nagarik App and has worked on paperless processing for services including passports, citizenship-related services and driving licences. The administration has also expanded government courier services and introduced measures intended to reduce the need for citizens to repeatedly visit government offices.

The Hello Sarkar grievance system has also been upgraded, with the government seeking more centralised monitoring of complaints.

However, the wider digital transformation is not complete. Key legislative and institutional commitments, including the Electronic Governance Bill, data protection framework and National Enterprise Architecture Framework, remained unfinished in earlier independent assessments.

This means that while individual digital services have expanded, the broader goal of creating a fully integrated digital government remains a work in progress.

Public Land And Landless Families

Land management is another area where there has been visible activity.

The government has been working on the registration of landless people and informal settlers. According to the latest government figures cited in recent reporting, 5,737 families have received land ownership certificates, while more than 13 lakh applications have been entered into the integrated system for verification.

The government has also taken action on public and government land, including efforts to identify and recover illegally occupied land.

However, the scale of the land problem means that registration, verification and recovery are continuing processes rather than completed reforms.

Cooperative Victims And Refunds

The 100-point agenda also included action on cooperative victims.

The government has started returning money to small depositors affected by troubled cooperatives. During the government's first 100 days, the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Federal Affairs reported that Rs. 26.3 crore had been refunded to 1,754 cooperative savers, along with recovery of loans from borrowers.

The government later announced additional funds for the refund process.

The important point is that the refund mechanism has moved from policy to actual payments, but the much larger problem of cooperative victims and unrecovered savings remains unresolved.

Public Procurement

Procurement reform has also moved forward.

The government has introduced changes to the public procurement system, with amendments aimed at improving transparency, competition and efficiency. The Public Procurement amendment process became one of the government's legislative reform areas during its first months in office.

The government has also promoted digital monitoring and reforms intended to reduce delays in public projects.

Still, procurement reform cannot be measured only by the passage of legislation. Its effect will depend on whether projects are completed on time, whether competition improves and whether disputes and irregularities decline.

Blue Bus Promise Remains A Major Test

Among the 100 commitments, the Blue Bus programme for women has perhaps received the most public attention.

The government had promised at least 25 buses within the first 100 days as part of a women-focused public transport programme. That target was not achieved within the promised period. The service had still not reached the original target.

This is an important example of the difference between announcing a reform and delivering it at the promised scale.

The issue is therefore not simply whether the Blue Bus idea exists, but whether the promised number of buses, geographic coverage and service model have actually been delivered.

Energy And Economic Reform

The government has also placed significant emphasis on increasing domestic electricity consumption and expanding Nepal's electricity export capacity.

The energy agenda includes promoting greater electricity use in areas such as industry, transport and households, while also seeking larger export opportunities.

Economic reforms have also included measures relating to investment, startups, taxation, electronic billing, public procurement and business facilitation.

Some of these measures are already operational, while others require legislation, institutional restructuring or coordination between multiple government agencies.

Health And Education

The 100-point agenda also included reforms in health and education.

In education, the government has worked on university result timelines and other administrative changes. In health, it has promoted wider digital systems and reforms aimed at improving service delivery. The government introduced a 3% tax on health, but later withdrew it following widespread criticism.

But several structural commitments remain in progress. Independent assessments of the first 100 days found that many reforms affecting citizens directly had not yet reached full implementation.

This remains one of the central questions surrounding the agenda: how much of the reform can ordinary citizens actually feel in their daily lives?

Political Influence In The Civil Service

The government has also sought to reduce political influence inside the bureaucracy.

Measures have been taken against politically affiliated civil service structures, while the proposed Federal Civil Service Bill includes provisions aimed at creating a more professional and accountable civil service.

However, this area remains sensitive, with questions around implementation, legal challenges, and the balance between employees' rights and political neutrality in public administration.

Disaster Response And Recent Floods

The government's reform agenda was drafted before the latest major flood disasters, meaning disaster response was not simply a measure of whether the original 100 points were completed.

However, the floods have since placed disaster preparedness, rescue capacity, climate resilience and infrastructure protection much higher on the government's immediate agenda.

This is therefore better understood as an evolving government priority rather than a completed item from the original 100-point list.

The Dalit State Apology

One commitment that remains unresolved is the promised formal state apology to Dalit and historically excluded communities.

The agenda included a formal apology together with a reform programme. While political leaders have made statements and apologies in different contexts, the specific formal state-level commitment has not been fully delivered.

100 Points, But Different Ways Of Measuring Progress

The biggest challenge in assessing the Balen government's 100-point agenda is that there is no single universally accepted current score.

At the 100-day mark, the government said 70 of the 100 points had been implemented, with 17 more showing more than 80 percent progress and 13 showing less than 60 percent progress.

An independent Kathmandu Post review, however, found that only 38 of the 100 commitments had actually been implemented at that point.

The difference comes partly from methodology. The government counts policy decisions, institutional actions and progress toward longer-term targets, while independent reviews tend to distinguish between a decision being made, a law being passed and a reform actually reaching citizens.

That distinction remains important even after 200 days.

What Has Changed After 200 Days?

The record so far is therefore mixed in terms of implementation stage.

Visible progress includes:

• Federal ministries reduced from 22 to 18

• Asset investigation mechanism established, but was suspended upon the Supreme Court's order pending final ruling

• Cooperative refund process started

• Nagarik App and digital services expanded

• Hello Sarkar upgraded

• Public procurement reforms advanced

• Land ownership certificates distributed

• More than 13 lakhs land applications entered for verification

• Federal Civil Service Bill finally registered in Parliament

• Public land protection and recovery efforts advanced

• Energy consumption and export plans moved forward

Major areas still requiring further implementation include:

• Blue Bus programme

• Full digital government integration

• Data protection and e-governance legislation

• Wider civil service reform

• Urban development and waste management reforms

• Health and education reforms

• Agricultural reforms

• Public land verification and recovery

• Political neutrality in the bureaucracy

• Formal state apology to Dalit and historically excluded communities

The government has therefore moved beyond the initial stage of announcing its 100-point agenda. Several reforms have produced concrete decisions, laws or services, while others have missed their original deadlines or remain works in progress.

After 200 days, the key question is no longer simply how many points have been marked “complete.” It is how many reforms have produced measurable and lasting changes in the lives of ordinary citizens.

For a government that came to power promising measurable, accountable, and results-oriented governance, that is likely to remain one of the most important tests of the 100-point agenda.