Kathmandu, April 30 -- The Rastriya Swatantra Party government has widened its use of ordinances to amend laws, drawing sharp criticism from opposition parties who say it is bypassing Parliament and undermining the regular legislative process.

According to sources, the government has sent an ordinance entitled "Some Nepal Acts" to the Office of the President, proposing amendments to 20 different laws. The package sent to the President also includes ordinances covering 16 universities and seven health science academies. The documents were dispatched on Tuesday.

This comes a day after the Balendra Shah administration submitted separate ordinances to amend the Constitutional Council (Functions, Duties, Powers and Procedures) Act, 2010, and...