Impasse At Local Level

Federal system that Nepal adopted through the new constitution in 2015 aims to distribute resources and devolve powers and rights to the local, provincial and federal government in judicious manner so that the people from all social groups have ownership of state and participate in decision-making and development processes. Of course, the country has made strides in gradually realising these objectives. 

The three-layer governments are now in their second five-year tenure following the elections held in May and November this year. The local government, considered the vehicle of grassroots democracy and development, is a vital component to ensure effective delivery of goods and services for the people.  The local units generate local resources as well as get grants from the provincial and federal government to meet their general and development expenditures.

The constitution has empowered the local bodies to an extent that provincial and federal governments can’t interfere in its internal matters. Local units have rights to perform three distinct duties - legislative, executive and judiciary. Nonetheless, the local leadership needs broader understanding to approve budget and implement local programmes and projects on time.  Sometime local representatives elected from different political parties clash over the allocation of budget and formulation of programmes, creating deadlock in the passage of annual budget and implementation of important projects. Now the local units provide salary to teachers and health workers and fund for the small projects. As these employees fail to receive their salary for months, they resort to strike, which further disrupts the public service delivery process. Clashes of interest, political prejudice and greed for resources among the elected officials have been largely responsible for this situation.

According to the news report published in this daily on Sunday, seven local bodies in Madhes Province have failed to announce the budget for the fiscal year 2022/23 as there remains only a week of the first half of the current fiscal. Four municipalities – Karjanha of   Sihara district, Kamala and Nagrain of  Dhanusha, Baudhimai of  Sarlahi – and three rural municipalities – Aurahi of  Siraha, Bishnu of  Sarlahi and Yamuna Mai of  Rautahat – are running without budget for the entire first half of the current fiscal year.

Bisheshwar Yadav, Mayor of Kamala Municipality of Dhanusha has come to Kathmandu to hold talks with the senior leaders of related political parties to sort out the impasse. Yadav, who won the polls from the Nepali Congress, insisted that the political factor led to the current stalemate in his municipality. The opposition party boycotted the government’s policy and programmes and filed a case at the High Court in Janakpurdham. 

The conflict between the mayors and deputy mayors, chairpersons and deputy chairs or elected chief and opposition parties are blamed for the standoff in the local units. If a mayor is from one party and majority elected officials are from other parties, there is a quarrel over the use of budget and resources between them. Some experts have argued that feudal culture has also hampered the democratic exercise in the local government.

The tendency of the ruling parties to move unilaterally by underestimating the opposition parties also creates problems in smoothly handling the local issues. It has become imperative to develop consensus and collaboration among the political parties so that the local governments do not face unnecessary gridlock, thereby expediting the economic and social welfare activities as per the aspirations of the people.