Ministry, NAST at odds over sweeping reform plan

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Mahabir Pun says the academy has become overstaffed and politically influenced, while NAST warns the proposed reforms threaten its autonomy and put scientific research under bureaucratic control.

A dispute has emerged between Nepal’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) over plans to amend the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Act, 1991 and radically restructure the country’s premier scientific institution.