Committee that lacks clear responsibility

By Rajani Kumari Yogi,Bulbule, Feb. 13: Gangaram Sunar became the chief of Surkhet District Coordination Committee since 2022 local elections after serving five years as a ward chairman.

However, Sunar found that the post had minimum responsibility and poor purpose. “I feel I have been operating an office devoid of rights,” said Sunar.

Kalikot District Coordination Committee chief Dhanjit Shahi also feels the same. “The committee hasn’t been given much responsibilities. Moreover, there are legal hurdles and confusions which affect our work. I question the legitimacy of this committee sometimes,” said Shahi. Most of the district coordination committee chiefs in Karnali Province with whom The Rising Nepal spoke to said that they were unhappy with the responsibility, rights and power given to them.

They argued that the constitution itself provisioned minimum and insufficient responsibility to the committees.

The chiefs also stressed that the committee’s main role was to ensure coordination between the three tiers of government; however, they lack proper law, budget, manpower and responsibility.

“A clear law should be enacted for the coordination committees. Until then, we will feel we only have an office but no work to do,” said Sunar.

“We have been told to coordinate but not allowed to restrict unethical and illegal activities. Other than coordinating with local levels, I don’t feel there are any other works,” Sunar added.

No budget, no manpower

While the responsibility is almost nil, the committees also don’t have enough budget and manpower. 

According to the chiefs, a coordination committee requires at least one engineer and a sub-engineer, but they don’t have any. “We are allowed to inspect. We inspect and make public good works through notices. If there are some issues, we make suggestions to the respective local level. However, we also need the power to regulate alongside inspection,” said Sunar.

Kalikot’s chief Shahi also stressed that providing more power to the district coordination committees was a must.

“By amending the prevailing laws, the committees should be made more powerful if they should exist. If more budget and manpower were provided alongside effective responsibilities, a coordination committee can work to ensure quality development,” said Shahi.

Regulatory power sought

Shahi said that the inability to regulate illegal and unethical activities affected their work of inspection.

“We inspect. But we cannot take any punitive action against illegal activities. We also don’t have proper authorities to submit our inspection reports. Moreover, our reports have less impact as they are not reflected on,” said Shahi.

Thus, the chiefs have demanded a power to punish violators and award quality contractors or individuals. If not, they maintained that the district coordination committees are only occupying space as government authority.