Kathmandu, January 25

The Local Bodies Restructuring Commission said it had started hiring public administrators and economists to prepare a report on the structure of public administration in the federal setup.

The constitutional body, which had submitted its report on the number and boundaries of local bodies to the government recently, said experts’ advice was needed on the model of public administration in the federal setup.

Apart from determining the number and boundaries of local bodies, the LBRC is mandated to prepare a report on special, protected and autonomous regions, structure of public administration in the federal setup and its economic viability.

“We have been working to hire more experts, who have extensive knowledge on public administration and economy,” said LBRC’s Spokesperson Hari Paudel. He said the commission had already hired some experts and started work on determining possible modality of public administration in the federal setup.

According to Spokesperson Paudel, the government has tasked the LBRC with recommending human resources for all 710 local bodies, which include village bodies and municipalities, sub-metropolitan and metropolitan cities, and special, protected and autonomous regions.

The commission will recommend formation of provincial service commissions, whose structures will be similar to Public Service Commission, for managing staffers for local bodies.  “Those bodies will be responsible to the local government,” said LBRC member Neeraj Shah. He said the PSC’s role would be curtailed in the federal setup as it would recruit employees only for the central government.

According to Shah, two-thirds of government employees working at the central level will be transferred to the local levels. The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has proposed to hire 26 to 46 employees for village bodies and 172 employees for metropolitan cities.