Former health secretary Dr Senendra Upreti says that during his tenure, the ministry would invite former bureaucrats, officials and experts to discuss the new budget preparation. But since his retirement seven years ago, he has not been invited to such discussions, Upreti complains.

“Leadership of the health ministry might not have thought it was worth discussing with me,” Upreti says.

Not just Upreti, many former bureaucrats have similar complaints.

Most government agencies, including the health ministry, are currently busy preparing new annual budgets for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-026. The ministry has asked for suggestions on a new budget from anyone interested, but has not bothered to discuss it with the former officials, bureaucrats and experts.

Dr Baburam Merasini, a public health expert who served as chief of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, says the last time he was invited for such discussions was during the coronavirus pandemic six years back.

“I had given my suggestions about the ways to control the spread of infections and measures needed to be enforced by authorities concerned during the pandemic,” Marasini says. “Since then, no one from the Health Ministry has contacted me for policy and planning discussion.”

Several other former bureaucrats, including Dr Padam Bahadur Chand, former chief of the Policy Planning and International Cooperation Division at the Health Ministry, say that the ministry has no culture of discussing issues such as budget priority, possible challenges for effective implementation and effective use of the health budget with former officials and experts.

Many officials and public health experts the Post talked to say that paying attention to the views of former bureaucrats and experts who spent years in various positions under the ministry would help the government achieve the results it desires.

Moreover, they say such practice would be instrumental in preparing a balanced budget at a time when major aid agencies have suspended their funding in multiple crucial programmes and the government itself has lowered the budget ceiling.

The US government, Nepal’s largest donor, suspended nearly all foreign assistance worldwide for three months in the last week of January soon after Donald Trump assumed presidency. Nepal is already feeling the impact of that decision, with officials saying they are bracing for further consequences in the coming days.

Moreover, the government has set a ceiling of Rs83 billion for the Ministry of Health and Population’s expenditure for the upcoming budget, Rs3 billion less than the allocation this fiscal year.

“Authorities concerned must prioritise healthcare programmes and duplication of programmes must be stopped,” Chand says. “Donors’ aid is not reliable. It can be suspended at any time. We must find ways to continue our crucial programmes. And for that, experiences of former officials would be important.”

Experts say that former top bureaucrats and officials are not just retirees but valuable assets with a wealth of experience, something that can be utilised for the benefit of the country.

“During my tenure, officials from the Finance Ministry and National Planning Commission used to ask questions about the result of investment,” Marasini says. “I used to answer that it takes years for us to see the results. Developments like the increase in life expectancy to 70 and healthier youths going abroad in search of jobs are the results.”

Experts suggest officials concerned to focus on spending the budget allocated for the Health Ministry instead of complaining about not getting more budget. They say that only 70 percent of the total budget is utilised every year and the remaining gets frozen.

Officials from the health ministry say that the general public and officials concerned from local and provincial governments can give suggestions on the budget.

“We will avoid duplication of programmes, cancel unnecessary review meetings of each programme, lessen dissemination and orientation programmes, and prioritise virtual programmes,” says Dr Prakash Budhathoky, the health ministry spokesperson.

“We hope that the size of the budget will increase,” he says. “The health minister and secretary are working to convince finance ministry officials of that.”