Balen cabinet has five women ministers

Balendra Shah led 15 member cabinet has five women ministers, which is probably the highest in number in the political history of Nepal. Nisha Mehta with the portfolio of Health Ministry, Pratibha Rawal, with Federal Affairs General Administration and Cooperatives Ministry, Sobita Gautam with Law and Justice portfolio and Sita Badi with Women and Children portfolio are the five women ministers inducted in the Balen cabinet.

There is a provision in the constitution that requires 33 percent seat reservation for women in every state organization including the Parliament and the cabinet. However, the provision was never implemented. In the past there were usually1 or 2 women in the cabinet. In this situation, the Balen cabinet is highly inclusive, say observers.

This is for the first time in the political history of Nepal that such a large representation of women has been made in the cabinet, which is a positive aspect of the Balen government, remarked Dinesh Tripathi, senior advocate and constitutional expert. Although there is the provision that every state organ should have 33 percent women representation, it was never implemented in the past, he pointed out. “This makes the cabinet highly inclusive one and this very much appreciable.”