Governance Reform is an ongoing process and it covers diversified sectors starting from decentralization to accountable public administration. His Majesty's Government of Nepal is strongly committed to governance reform, which it is hoped would help improve Nepal's civil service substantially. ADB is providing technical assistance in support of this program. As apart of the governance reform, the governmant has already taken a number of reform activities such as:

• no premature transfer
• in-process development of a Personnel Management Information System.
• in-process development of a Program Expenditure Management System.
• development of criteria for excellent civil service reward
• freezing of vacant posts
• implementation of voluntary retirement schemes (2328 civil servants retired)
• restructuring of the central organization structure of the goverment which resulted in elimination of 1045 posts
• policy decision of non-paymant of salary without prior approval of payroll bgy Civil Servant Records Department.

Despite these reform activities, there are still some issues, which are to be addressed by Nepalese civil service. These are mentioned as follows:

• inadequate management structure and processes at the center of government for leading and supporting the reform effort.
• limited efforts to generate fiscal savings constrain pay enhancement and operational expenditures in the recurrent budget.
• systemic corruption and lack of robust system, procedures undermine the performance of the burearcracy
• quality and motivation of civil servants is very low
• little concern within ministries to deliver better services

The current government strategy identifies a series of reforms on a number of fronts. some principal areas of action are:

• improvement of the institutional framework within which services are delivered
• development of better financial controls and budgetary planning mechanisms
• increased orientation towards performance in the delivery of services
• a more efficient, merit-based civil service
• a public sector focused more on core government services and sized to deliver those services efficiently
• a more open and accountable public sector with effective anti-corruption measures i operation
• increased knowledge and understanding of government activities on the part of civil society, leading to its increased participation in public affairs.

The draft approach paper ot the Tenth Development Plan sets out the vision of a more efficient and effective public service. The government's vision for governance reform is provided in the government's Governance Reform Policy Matrix. The matrix contains a number of major governance policy measures and actions that are designed to promote continued progess in the governance reform program.