Police Raids on Kathmandu Consultancies Spark Dialogue on Policy Reform

EDUCAST, Amid ongoing police raids and fraud investigations targeting 69 educational consultancies in the Kathmandu Valley, the Federation of Educational Consultancy Entrepreneurs Nepal hosted an interactive program on “Policy and Regulation” at Hotel Hardik. The crackdown was initiated following numerous complaints regarding forged financial documents and the misuse of student visas for labor migration. According to the Ministry of Education, only around 1,000 out of nearly 5,000 consultancies nationwide successfully renewed their licenses, leaving the remainder automatically revoked.

Federation President Rajendra Baral emphasized that legitimate businesses should not be treated like criminals by law enforcement. He argued that consultancies should be recognized as service-oriented advisory bodies similar to doctors or lawyers, rather than as purely commercial entities.

Home Ministry Under Secretary Ganesh Gaire stated that while human errors can be corrected, intentional fraud and illegal activities will not be tolerated. He added that the government remains fully committed to maintaining good governance while safeguarding citizens’ constitutional and business freedoms.

Ministry of Education and Sports Under Secretary Semantaraj Koirala reassured compliant entrepreneurs that legitimate businesses have absolutely nothing to fear. He explained that online license renewal and profile updating systems are being accelerated to ensure institutional transparency and proper recordkeeping.

SSP Santosh Kumar Khadka of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office clarified that the ultimate goal of police action is to encourage self-compliance rather than to harass business owners. He concluded that the initial phase strictly targeted unregistered setups and forgery, noting that 32 institutions are already facing direct action under the Education Act.

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