The Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities, and Social Security, the government body responsible for social welfare, is advancing plans to provide personal assistant services for severely disabled individuals. The ministry aims to complete a study and implement the necessary arrangements within the current fiscal year 2083/84, which runs from July 17, 2026, to July 16, 2027.
This initiative follows a push by Padam Bahadur Pariyar, a member of the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament, who raised the issue of providing personal assistant services for fully and extremely disabled persons. The ministry views this as directly linked to the independent living, dignity, rights protection, and social inclusion of persons with disabilities.
The ministry, formed on May 13, 2026, under Prime Minister Balen Shah’s government by merging the former Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens and the social security branch of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, emphasizes that personal assistant services are more than just aid distribution. Their core objective is to create an environment where severely disabled individuals can manage their daily lives with self-determination and control.
Provisions for community assistance and personal assistant services are outlined in Rule 9 of the Aapangata Bhayeka Vyaktiko Adhikar Sambandhi Ain, 2074 (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2017) and its Niyamawali, 2077 (Regulations, 2020). Previously, the ministry had prepared a draft procedure for personal assistant services and sent it to the Ministry of Finance, the government’s financial oversight body, for feedback on Poush 18, 2080 (BS). However, the procedure could not be implemented due to a lack of clear feedback from the Ministry of Finance.
To identify and assess the needs of individuals requiring personal assistant services, the ministry has fully integrated the Disability Management Information System into the Social Information Management System. This integrated system is currently being expanded to all 753 local levels across the country. The ministry expects this system to streamline identification, ID card distribution, digital record-keeping, and data management for persons with disabilities, facilitating the allocation of services and resources based on available data.
Under its approved program for the current fiscal year, the ministry will conduct a comprehensive study. This study will establish clear provisions regarding the condition of individuals requiring services, the role of service providers, operational standards, financial liabilities, and the effectiveness of implementation. The ministry also stated that it would consult with organizations of persons with disabilities, local levels, provincial governments, relevant bodies, and experts to advance the necessary legal and institutional arrangements for implementing personal assistant services. The government’s policy is to foster an environment where persons with disabilities can live with dignity, safety, and independence, rather than being isolated from family or community.
However, it remains unclear whether a separate budget has been allocated for personal assistant services. Furthermore, specific timelines for the completion of the Disability Management Information System’s expansion to all 753 local levels and for the full implementation of the procedure after the study are not yet available.
