KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 14

As many as 59 local levels have failed to comply with the provisions stated in the 'Local Level Institutional Capacity Self-Assessment Procedure', which requires local governments to carry out self-assessment of their overall performance every fiscal.

Issuing a circular to 59 local levels that are yet to publish the results of their self-assessment, the MoFAGA has also urged them to complete the task by February 22. It aims to identify strengths and weaknesses of local governments through assessment of their performance and outcomes in a bid to make them competitive and more effective.

A press release issued by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration yesterday said 694 local levels had conducted self-assessment and published results for the fiscal 2021-22. There are 753 local levels in the country.

The thematic areas for self-assessment of local units include governance arrangements, organisation and administration, annual budget and planning management, fiscal and financial management, public service delivery, judicial performance, physical infrastructure, social inclusion, environment protection and disaster management, and coordination and collaboration.

According to the MoFAGA, each of the thematic areas have separate indicators for self-assessment.

Maximum mark per indicator has been fixed at 1. Poor performance, moderate performance and excellent performance will get 0, 0.5 and 1 respectively.

'As per the procedure, it is mandatory for local levels to complete their self-assessment and publish the results through their respective websites and notice boards by the first week of Magh (before the end of December) each fiscal following approval of the provision from the executive office.

Similarly, the final results should be sent to the concerned district coordination committee, Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of the province, and the MoFAGA,' the official said. The concerned departments, divisions and sections are involved in self-assessment of the thematic areas.

The MoFAGA said it would prepare a consolidated report comprising the self-assessment results of all 753 local levels and conduct capacity development programmes for local governments that yield poor results.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 15, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.