Kathmandu, Nov 26: Prime Minister Sushila Karki is preparing to reshuffle her secretariat. She began considering changes after a series of controversies involving members of her team. Sources say she is planning to replace individuals who have been drawn into disputes, including Adarsha Kumar Shrestha (chief personal secretary).

Karki had appointed Shrestha to her secretariat despite his earlier controversies during his time at the Supreme Court. Recently, he brought his wife and relatives into the secretariat, and once the matter became public, questions were raised about Karki’s moral standing, especially since she became prime minister on a platform that resonated with the Gen Z movement’s call for clean governance. This pushed her to prepare for a reshuffle.

Shrestha, who is accused of being involved in financial dealings during his tenure in the Supreme Court’s bench management section, joined the court in 2061 as an IT support person and continued working there before becoming the prime minister’s personal secretary.

He spent years handling bench management and, before the lottery system was introduced, was involved in scheduling hearings from the Chief Justice’s residence in Baluwatar.

The Prime Minister’s secretariat currently includes Adarsha Kumar Shrestha (chief personal secretary), Sangeeta Shrestha (assistant personal secretary), Kamala Shrestha (assistant personal secretary), Ramesh Raj Dahal (section officer), Arjit Khadka (section officer), Keshav Thapa (section officer, photographer), Aakriti Ghimire (section officer), Srishti Dangol (administration assistant), Poonam Shrestha (administration assistant), Junu Karki (administration assistant), Angelina Kayastha (administration assistant), Rabina Shrestha (administration assistant), Haribabu Shrestha (driver), and Mira Adhikari (office assistant).

People’s News Monitoring Service