Looks like the structure/ organisation of the Prime Minister's Office is to be changed, and a team has been set up to re-organise the space.

In the past the responsibilities of different ministries inside the office had not been clearly defined. Now each ministry will have a desk from where the ministries will be advised and monitored. There used to be no restrictions on the number of advisors the prime minister could have-in 2001, when Sher Bahadur Deuba was in office, he had 48 advisors, most designated as special first class officers with concomitant salary and allowances. Now there will be only five. A new department will be set up to invite intellectuals on a regular basis to advise the government on policy-related issues. Experts say that such a set-up will reduce the costs of running the office.

The interim constitution gives the prime minister 44 new responsibilities including: approving policies; designing programs; making recommendations for appointment to constitutional bodies; receiving applications for constitutional bodies; selecting envoys; and issuing pardons, for which the king was responsible in the past. To cope with this, the number of staff in the prime minster's office has been increased from 181 to 196.

If there is a provision for a deputy prime minister, his office will no longer be in the PMO or even Singha Darbar, but in the ministry for which he is responsible. The National Planning Commission, which is organised under the chairmanship of the prime minister, has also been asked to leave the premises to make more space for the PMO.

Vehicles driving to the PMO must execute seven difficult turns along the way. In 1985 plans were made-but never implemented-to construct a direct route from Singha Darbar's northwest corner to the office. The new team is now all set to build this new road and implement the 20-year-old plan. It is understood that the building which houses Nepal Army's Sri Jung Battalion (and is the crown prince's favourite hangout), will have to be destroyed to make way.