Mahendra Man Gurung
Chief Information Commissioner
National Information Commission
NEPAL
Mahendra Man Gurung was born and grew up in the village of Panchmool, 'Sirubari' now ward number 1 of Aandhikhola Gua Palika of Gandaki Province, the village 'Sirubari' is highly regarded as one of the pioneers in village tourism and best village tourism destinations in Nepal.
He received his Masters Degree in Business Administration, specializing in Finance, from University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia in 1997 and Bachelors Degree in Commerce from Public Youth Campus, Tribhuwan University, Graduated high School from Tri Shaheed High School, Panchmool, Syangja, the school established by his great grandfather SM Gambhir Singh Gurung in BS 1993 during Rana regime.
Prior to the appointment in NIC, he was Secretary at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology for more than 22 months. During this tenure, number of communication and Information Technology related legislations has been drafted, some of them submitted to the Parliament, some to the Cabinet and some at the final stage of conclusion at the ministry.
Very important document for the development of Information Technology sector in Nepal, "Digital Nepal Framework" was approved by the Government after long and extensive exercise of repeated consultations and deliberations under his leadership.
To make the Internet safer and secure in Nepal, "Information Technology Emergency Support Group Operation and Management Directive 2018" was approved by the government and National Cyber Security Monitoring Center has been established.
A major breakthrough in advertising sector, Advertisement related legislation "Advertisement (Regulation) Act 2019" with "Clean Feed" provision has been approved by the parliament, a very few such legislations in the world, during his tenure in the ministry.
To monitor the implementation of Right to Information related legislation at government agencies, "Right to Information Implementation Monitoring Procedure 2019" was prepared and approved by the cabinet during his tenure in the ministry. The procedure has created number of committees at federal, provincial and local level to monitor and review the implementation of right to information.
While at the Ministry of Local Development and Federal Affairs as a secretary, a high level committee to local level was formed and legislations related to 6 constitutional bodies were drafted.
During his tenure at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers as a Secretary, he has coordinated governance restructuring process.
He joined civil service in 1987 as a Section Officer, served in number of positions and offices; Office of the Comptroller General, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of General Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Embassy of Nepal in India for two years, Ministry of Finance, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Ministry of Environment, Office of the Eastern Regional Administration, Ministry of Local Development and Federal Affairs and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
Beside the regular bureaucratic function, he also served as Chairperson of Board of Directors of Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited (one of the largest Commercial banks in Nepal), Nepal Telecommunication Company, National Information Technology Center, Security Printing Center, Radio Nepal. During his tenure at RBB, it was ranked highest profit making bank among 28 commercial banks in Nepal.
He has lead number of delegations representing Nepal in number of international, regional and bilateral meetings, seminars, workshops, conferences and tours overseas. The foreign visits ranges from ITU to environmental and governance related programs. During these visits, he participated as panelist or speaker or just a participant. One of the bilateral negotiations held under his leadership to Laos's government on Orbital slot provided by ITU, which was successfully concluded to the benefit of Nepal.
He keeps writing articles on contemporary and governance issues published in national newspapers.
Mr. Gurung likes to read books mostly written by Nepali writers, fiction novels and books on experiences of world leaders, prefers travel to remote districts of Nepal and historical cities of the world.
Family of four, includes a daughter and son. At the age of six, he lost his mom due to unknown health condition, brought up by shopkeeper father Ananda Prasad Gurung and elder sister. Younger sister was only 6 months old, when they lost mom.