Prime Minister Balendra Shah has urged lawmakers from the Gen Z age group to bring a different perspective to Parliament, saying they should not limit themselves to questioning the government but also suggest ways to address the problems they raise.

During a meeting with some lawmakers from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) under the age of 30, Shah said he had been closely following their parliamentary interventions and wanted them to take a more solution-oriented approach.

According to lawmakers who attended the meeting, Shah said repeated questioning without proposals for solutions was making it difficult for the government to move forward.

“The prime minister said there were questions in Parliament, but young lawmakers were not offering ideas to address them,” an RSP lawmaker quoted Shah as saying. “He said the government was finding it difficult when Parliament only raised questions. He urged us to be solution-oriented.”

Shah also told the lawmakers that Parliament should not be seen only as a place to raise questions, but also as a forum for proposing solutions and bringing about reforms.

He said Nepal had limited employment opportunities and had failed to make sufficient progress in sectors beyond politics. The prime minister urged young lawmakers to work towards improving areas such as film, music, literature and sports, saying young people had traditionally been more interested in those fields than in politics.

“In the past, only a few people were interested in politics, while young people were interested in sports, music and film,” Shah said, according to lawmakers. “Now everyone seems interested in politics. We should focus on how to connect young people and future generations with those sectors as well.”

Lawmakers also raised issues related to information technology, startups, sports, employment, governance and the demands of the Gen Z movement.

Lawmaker Smriti Senchuri said Shah asked what the younger generation wanted from the IT sector and whether young MPs had been able to deliver anything for them. She said he encouraged them to create platforms and pursue businesses alongside politics.

Shah also suggested that young lawmakers should encourage the younger generation to take up startups, according to Senchuri.

Sulav Kharel said he called for reforms to the electoral system and laws governing political parties in line with the demands of the Gen Z movement. He also told the prime minister that social problems should be addressed through long-term policy reforms and that legal procedures should be followed.

Shivshankar Yadav noted Shah's remarks reflected a view that politics pursued by younger generations should be different. Yadav said the prime minister raised the need to connect young people with IT and sports, create employment through sports and address drug addiction among young people in Madhesh province.

Yadav also raised concerns about a lack of inclusion in government appointments. He said he told the prime minister that he felt inclusiveness was being compromised in the name of meritocracy.

In response, Shah said his government was still in its early stages and was learning as it moved forward.

“This should be taken as the first semester,” Yadav quoted Shah as saying. “We are receiving many inputs from many places. We have to keep improving as we move forward.”

KP Khanal said he raised the need to encourage young people in IT, improve grassroots sports, beautify cities and rivers, and work with provincial and local governments to implement such programmes. He also called for greater promotion of tourism in various parts of Sudurpaschim province.

Khanal said Shah told the lawmakers that he was paying close attention to the issues they had raised and was particularly interested in how young MPs would distinguish themselves in the coming days.

“He said the presentations of Gen Z lawmakers and those over 60 had become similar,” Khanal said. “He wants Gen Z lawmakers to present different ideas and reflect the concerns of future generations.”

According to Khanal, Shah also encouraged young lawmakers to develop professional careers alongside politics so they would have a means of earning a living if their political careers did not continue.

Manish Khanal said most lawmakers at the meeting raised issues associated with the Gen Z movement. They told Shah that because the government had been formed on the back of the movement, it should explain how its demands would be implemented.

Shah responded that the government was moving ahead with its work, according to Khanal.

Khanal said Shah also asked lawmakers under 30 to bring issues concerning their generation to Parliament rather than raising the same issues as older lawmakers.

Shraddha Kunwar urged the government to make greater use of the time, energy and experience of Gen Z lawmakers and coordinate with them beyond their parliamentary duties.

She also called for the prime minister's office to keep lawmakers informed about government activities and raised the issue of people still in detention over their involvement in the Gen Z movement. She said the government should consider releasing those detained based on the nature of their involvement in the protests.

Kunwar also raised the need to control inflation during the festival season, create employment opportunities and reduce the distance between the government and lawmakers.

Senchuri likewise said she asked the government to look into the cases of people detained over their involvement in the Gen Z movement and consider releasing them after examining the nature of their involvement.

She also raised the lack of computers in schools in remote parts of Dolakha, saying some students had to travel to Charikot to learn basic computer skills. Shah asked her to have such issues recorded by his secretariat, according to Senchuri.

Kharel said he proposed that the government institutionalise the demands of the Gen Z movement by seeking parliamentary endorsement. He said Parliament should take ownership of the demands and amend laws where necessary to address calls for good governance, transparency, the rule of law and an end to corruption.

Shah also told the lawmakers that arrangements were being made for ministers to meet MPs every day. Each minister would be required to set aside one hour a day to meet lawmakers, according to participants.

Shah also said he would increase the frequency of his meetings with lawmakers.