FEATURES NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

By Mukti Rijal

A NEW cycle of discussion and deliberation on decentralisation and local self governance has been initiated. It is good to note that decentralisation has received wider attention and deliberation on various aspects relating to policy building and implementation has been carried out in different forums. Recently associations of local authorities organised interaction programme especially to deliberate on the merits of a bill which has been proposed and floated for discussion. The bill intends to amend some of the crucial provisions of the Local self governance Act contending that the prevailing act needed reform and revisit. The Municipality association of Nepal has been the first to convene a gathering to discuss the proposed bill. The gathering endorsed the provision aimed at downsizing the numbers of the elected officials at the local government level and vesting more power and authority in the chief of the local government units. The association of district development committee/Nepal held a programme in which Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba took part and gave his remarks. The ADDC/N progarmme attracted a critical gathering of the stakeholders and actors to deliberate on the issues affecting the decentralisation process in the country in his observation at the interaction Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba did not indulge in tall talks but remarked that the strengthening decentralisation and local self governance will alone help contain the social discontent and dissatisfaction in the country. He said "Participation of the people periodic election is not enough for strengthening democracy. People should be consulted and their participation secured in each and every stage of development so that schemes suited to their needs and realities are implemented and sustained."

It is to be noted that the process of strengthening democracy and self governance got initiated in 1994 when the incumbent primeminister Sher Bahadur Deuba was holding the same position as the chief of the coalition government. High level decentralisation coordination committee was formed then under the chairmanship of the prime minister himself with a view to examine the prevailing decentralisation framework and recommend ways and means to strengthen the process of local self governance in the country. The committee endorsed a report that suggested far reaching changes in the decentralisation framework in the country. The report recommended among others, to bring about radical changes in the structure, functions and mechanism of decentralisation. The report mooted for a devolutionary arrangement with a view to endow more functions and responsibilities in the local government institutions including VDCs, DDCs and municipalities. The report also provided recommendation to enlarge competencies and mandates of the local bodies especially VDCs and municipalities to settle disputes of local nature assuming role of an alternative disrupte resolution forum.

Based on the recommendation of the report, the local self governance act was formulated. However, the act did not borrow the structural scheme recommended in the report. The chairman in-council concept suggested in the report was superseded by the direct election for the chief of the local bodies.

This direct election of the chief of the municipalities and VDCs with consequent absence of relationship and linkage between the executive and deliberative organ of the local government institutions has been perceived as a problem faced by local government institutions in the country.

The proposed amendment bill to the local self governance act focuses to execute structural change and reform so that a semi-presidential type structure is established at the local level. It seems that local body office bearers have bought the idea and they are in agreement with the initiative undertaken to change the provisions in the act. However, there are apprehensions that the move to amend the act itself may scuttle the process of changing the sectoral laws overlapping with the provisions of the local self governance act. This was feared at the interaction programme organised, the other day, by the National Association of VDCs in Nepal (NAVIN) in which political party representatives and government officials took part. However, there was a consensus that some improvement needs to be carried out so that local bodies become more functional and effective.

There is also an apprehension raised from civil society quarters whether the proposals for change would introduce instability in the on going decentralisation process in the country. Frequent changes might not allow the process to stabilise more time would be spent on discussion and deliberation instead of much needed implementation. As decentralisation and democracy go together, it is time to place emphasis on implementation, not debates and deliberates. We have enough of them.

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