Kathmandu, June 30

Chief ministers of Province 2 and 6 have said that the provincial and local governments were capable of implementing development projects in their areas on their own.

Talking to The Himalayan Times, Province 2 Chief Minister Mohammad Lalbabu Raut and Chief Province 6 Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi said that their governments were capable of implementing projects under their jurisdiction and the central government should not interfere in their business.

They also objected to the motion of urgent public importance registered by lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

The proposal registered by NCP (NCP) lawmaker KhagarajAdhikari stated that the central government should take back the projects it had handed over to the provincial and local governments and hand over those projects to the lower tiers of the government only after completing them. The government had handed over the projects as they fell under the jurisdiction of provincial and local governments.

Chief Minister Shahi said the central government should not interfere in the affairs of provincial and local governments. “There is no reason for the federal government to take back projects, which it had already handed over to the lower tiers of government,” Shahi said and added that if the federal government interfered in those projects, that would be against the spirit of federalism.

“The central government should limit itself to providing human resources and budget required for the provincial and local governments,” he added. He said the central government had failed to complete those projects on time. “If the federal government were capable, why did it not complete those projects on time?” he asked.

Chief Minister Raut also said the provincial and local governments were capable of carrying out development projects on their own. “If the central government wants to help us, it can do so by providing human resources and budget,” Raut said, adding that the central government could not go against the constitution and act like the government of a unitary state.

Lawmakers of the ruling Nepali Congress had also criticised registration of the motion of urgent public importance, saying it was against the spirit of federalism and the constitution.

Political analyst Prof Krishna Khanal, however, said the central government could implement projects in the local levels if they lacked resources and expertise, but it should do so with the motive of helping the lower tiers of government and not to give the impression that it was the supreme authority.

“Another way to help the lower tiers of the government is to hand over projects to them and assist them with human and other resources,” he added.