Rishi Ram Pandey

Francis Fukuyama, in his popular book 'State Building', states that federalism and decentralisation have been widely touted as ways of making government more responsive politically and more supportive of economic growth. Federal form of governance, in a narrower sense, is a mechanism of decentralising decision making to the levels of government. The authority of decision making, and expenditure assignments are associated to each other in such setup.

When the forms of governance are changed, defining and redefining the role of existing and newly established institutions become prominent. Fukuyama argues that same institutions can promote or detract from service delivery depending on whether there are complementary institutions that promote its functionality. This argument rightly relates with the establishment of provincial government and local levels in Nepal. Several new institutions have been established at sub-national level after the promulgation of new constitution based on federal form of governance. To what extent the new institutions can deliver public services, by and large, depend on their institutional capacity. The more the institutions get stronger, the more the stateness can be realised.

Fiscal transfer
Sub-national governments are new for Nepal, although the country had experienced decentralisation after 1990s. Village Development Committees and Municipalities were established to provide basic services and foster developmental tasks at local level. However, fiscal transfer arrangements and the authority given to the local bodies were not constitutional. The provincial governments are all new in terms of structure as well as the functions. Local levels are established with exclusive and concurrent constitutional rights. To what extent these institutions can justify their rationale heavily depends on the services they provide to the wider public.

Enhancing the governing capacity of provincial government and local levels is one of the major tasks. Provincial governments and local levels have been functional, and they are close to the end of their first term. However, there are numerous procedural weaknesses in terms of governance. It is quite obvious to have such problems as the provincial governments and local levels are functioning in new setup. However, such a situation cannot be prolonged indefinitely. New people come in and go out from power and new staff come in and go out from the organisations, but it is the system that should function uninterruptedly. Therefore, establishing and strengthening the system is the key to bolstering sub-national governance. Here comes the issue of capacity development.

'Capacity' and 'competency' are two different things. Capacity refers to the ability of an individual to perform given roles. The competency, on the other hand, refers to the combination of observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes that contribute to enhance individual performance and ultimately result in organisational success. Competency is a broader concept that includes the capacities to perform set of roles. Building capacities for better competencies should, therefore, be the strategy of capacity development.

Training has been widely accepted as one of the major means to develop competencies. It is one of the major tools to address the gap between desired and the existing competency. Each organisation or an individual is assigned with expected roles. If any problem persists in fulfilling the expected roles, then training can be a solution. Training is concerned with developing a particular skill to a desired standard by instruction and practice.
The current trend of capacity development is very conventional, mainly lecture based training. The design of the training is so conventional that it seldom takes the application and change of behaviour into account. How to improve the performance of the targeted group and obtain real results is hardly thought of while planning the training. This kind of practice should be broken down and a performance focused capacity development approach should be established.

Training design and implementation is a technical task that should be carried out systematically to improve the performance. Instructional Design is one of the approaches to performance focused training. "ADDIE", acronyms of Analysis of training needs, Designing of a training programme based on the needs identified, Development of training manual, Implementation of training programme following the training manual and the Evaluation of the results of the training through follow up, monitoring and performance appraisal is widely regarded as a systematic approach to performance-based training.

Capacity development is a dynamic task. Training needs assessment helps to identify the gap between present competency and the desired competency to accomplish given roles. Training design is significantly important to ensure the best value for money. Training should be delivered by experienced and subject matter specialists maintaining basic minimum standards; and linking training with the roles of trainees. The outcome of the training should be evaluated through follow up, monitoring, on-site technical support, on-site performance observation, evaluation of the results, etc.

Capacity development is more than training and can be achieved through various means. Training itself is an expensive means to capacity development. As the nation grows, changes in current human resource development practices will be indispensable. 'Beyond training' principle should be adopted to efficiently impart skills and knowledge to the targeted beneficiaries.

Progressive move
After the peaceful solution to more than a decade-long armed conflict, Nepal has got new constitution and form of governance. Inclusive democracy for example, has been established with affirmative constitutional and legal provisions. Representation of women and disadvantaged groups in decision making and state affairs is progressive move to participatory and inclusive governance. Nepal, therefore, could be a centre for international training, research, and innovation. Training should be linked with research and innovation.

Competitive bureaucracy and competent elected officials are prerequisites for state building. Sub-national governance could be strengthened with strong and vibrant provincial governments and local levels. As Fukuyama has pointed out, federalism and decentralisation may be an instrument for promoting responsive polity and inclusive and participatory development. However, without competent human resources, those boarder goals cannot be achieved. Capacity development initiatives may help to sharpen the saw of elected officials and the personnel working in the levels of government leading to stronger government with improved governance.

(Pandey is Executive Director of Gandaki Province Training Academy, Gandaki Province, Pokhara. pandeyrishiram71@gmail.com)