We do not even have the power to select teachers on our own. The law minister appears to have forgotten that Nepal is now a federal state

Kathmandu, March 3

Elected representatives of the local levels have started doing the rounds of Kathmandu, the federal capital, as they fear the federal government is making deliberate moves to usurp constitutional rights of local governments, rendering them toothless.

They have expressed this fear at a time when provincial governments are accusing the federal government of trying to infringe upon provincial rights to centralise power.

Nepal’s constitution has clearly defined rights of federal, provincial and local governments. Schedule 8 of the constitution clearly mentions 22 absolute rights of 753 local governments. Based on this provision, laws have to be made accordingly by the federal and provincial governments so that they do not encroach upon local governments’ territory.

“But the federal government has been working against the spirit of the constitution,” said Municipal Association of Nepal Vice-president Kabita Dhungana.

The federal government, for example, has initiated the process of rehabilitating district offices that look after education, health, agriculture, forest, land, livestock, industry and cooperatives, according to Dhungana. These district offices were earlier scrapped by the federal government. “But since their abolition the federal government has been dilly-dallying in transferring the work of these offices to local governments,” reads a statement handed over by elected local representatives to the PM today.

This shows the federal government is working against the spirit of the constitution, Dhungana said, justifying the need to visit Kathmandu.

A delegation comprising elected representatives of local levels today met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung to criticise the federal government’s moves. On February 27, the delegation met NCP Co-chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, NC Chief Whip Balkrishna Khand and Minister of Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel.

“Gurung told us that bureaucrats in Singha Durbar have yet to change their mindset despite the shift from unitary to federal system of government,” said Rajendra Prasad Pyakurel, a member of the delegation.

One can catch a glimpse of the federal government’s “unitary mindset” from the content of the National Education Bill, according to the National Association of Rural Municipality Chairperson Hom Narayan Shrestha. The bill, for example, states that local governments will have to seek the federal government’s permission before merging schools. “This provision has been inserted in the bill despite knowing that high schools fall under local governments’ jurisdiction,” said Shrestha, adding, “We also do not have the power to select teachers on our own. The education minister appears to have forgotten that Nepal is now a federal state.”

Elected local representatives also said that some of the umbrella laws drafted by the federal government were aimed at making local governments weak. They also complained about duplication in budget allocation, as federal, provincial and local governments have earmarked funds for the same projects, affecting implementation of development works.

Oli told elected local representatives that rights guaranteed by the constitution would be granted gradually.

“We cannot transfer those rights in one go as local governments are not in a position to execute many tasks on their own because of capacity constraints,” sources quoted the PM as telling the delegation.

The PM also told the delegation that the federal government would hold discussion with representatives of municipalities and rural municipalities before the government’s annual Policies and Programmes are launched through the Parliament.

“We’ll never curtail people’s rights. In fact, we are ready to amend the constitution to make people more powerful,” the PM said.