Grants could be better utilised if projects and programmes were well-identified
With the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015, Nepal has been federated into seven provinces and 753 local levels. However, even after eight years and two elections, the local levels are heavily dependent on the central and provincial governments for funds to meet their day-to-day expenses and carry out development projects, which defeats the very essence of federalism. As much as two-thirds of the total financial resources of the local levels is met through fiscal transfers from the centre and provincial government, but their misuse has been a matter of great concern. It is against this backdrop that the National Planning Commission is preparing to conduct a detailed study of the effectiveness of two types of grants, namely the special and complementary grants, provided to the local levels. Besides these two grants, the local levels also receive conditional grants and fiscal equalisation grants from the centre. While the former funds the federal government's projects to achieve national goals and quality of public services, the latter helps fund local level projects approved by the local government.
The government has developed and implemented the Procedure for Special Grants so that grants can be channeled to projects and programmes identified by the local levels. Special grants are provided for projects and programmes related to educational development of those areas with low literacy rates, basic health services where maternal and child mortality, water supply, uplifting the underprivileged communities and achieving balanced development of all provinces and local levels in terms of physical and human development. Ensuring food security in areas with low food production and waste management are other priorities. The local levels can also apply for complementary grants to be spent on five sectors only. They are the economic sector like tourism development; infrastructure development such as rural roads and electricity generation; agricultural land reform and forestry; social sector involving the construction of schools and health posts; and good governance which includes reconstruction of public infrastructure damaged by disasters.
If channeled properly, the special and complementary grants could contribute greatly to completing well-identified projects and programmes to alleviate the living conditions of the people in the local levels.
However, the government had to put a stop to certain projects after local level were found using the funds to build expensive view towers and conference halls.
The haphazard construction of rural roads without doing any study on what this could do to the environment has put human settlements at high risk of landslides in many hill districts. There are complaints that the elected local level representatives own dozers which are pressed into service even when there is no need of a road in the locality. The grants could be better utilised if the local governments had the institutional capacity to identify good projects in the first place. Hence, instead of distributing resources haphazardly, it is necessary to first enhance the capacity of the local governments so that they can run the local levels effectively.
Food crisis in Bajura
The far-flung district of Bajura has been facing a food crisis for the last five months, and the situation is going to be more acute during the festive season. Almost all the government food depots in the district have gone empty. Even the food depot in Martadi, the district headquarters, has started running out of stock. This is a perennial problem the district has been facing for decades due to the failure of the concerned contractor in supplying subsidised rice in time. The people in the district face an acute food shortage during the festive season mainly because of the problem in transporting food during the rainy season that disrupts the countryside roads.
Due to the difficult terrain and steep geography, local food production in the Himali district cannot sustain for more than three months, and food for the remaining months needs to be ferried from the Tarai, which is just a few hundred kilometers from the district. The poor condition of the roads is the main reason resulting in an acute shortage of food during the Dashain festival. According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Bajura, the district needs around 11,000 metric tons of rice every year. The district must explore other ways to become self-sufficient in foodstuffs.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 26, 2023, of The Himalayan Times