KATHMANDU: The National Assembly has approved the resolution proposal on implementation of federalism.
Lawmaker Khimlal Devkota is the proposer of the resolution motion and lawmakers and Jitendra Narayan Dev, Gopi Bahadur Achhami, Nanda Chapai, Pramila Kumari and Devendra Dahal seconded it. The motion was unanimously approved by of the Assembly.
National Assembly Chair Ganesh Prasad Timilsina on the occasion directed the government to implement the proposal passed by the Assembly.
Taking part in the discussions on the resolution motion, the Upper House lawmakers had complained that the relations among the three tiers of the government have not been able to function smoothly on the principles of cooperation, co-existence and collaboration.
They called attention of the government for the effective implementation of the federalism.
The National Assembly will next meet at 1.0pm on June 3.
Doubts over federalism getting cleared: Minister
Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajendra Shrestha has said the government was attentive to the full implementation of federalism.
Putting views on behalf of the government over the resolution proposal in regard with the implementation of federalism following the conclusion of discussions over it at the National Assembly today, the Minister said the country had already switched to a federal model as envisaged by the Constitution.
“Provisions relating to republic, secularism, inclusion and proportional representation have come into effect, and the main structure of federal, province and local governments are already functioning,” he said, adding that the second local level elections had been recently concluded and the government hoped it would contribute to further enhancing federalism.
Doubts hovering over federalism are being removed with its implementation, according to the Minister. “For us, federalism was a new practice. There might have different sorts of views on it.
Now, we all together should shoulder responsibility to drive it on a right path,” he said.
A parliamentary committee could be formed for the implementation, a study and the monitoring of federalism, he suggested.
On its implementation, conclusions from this deliberation could be a guideline for the government, he viewed.
The government’s policies and programmes and budget for the next fiscal year, 2022/23 had adopted ways to strengthen federalism and the proper allocation of budget for the provincial and local levels would take place in the days to come, he said.
Problems facing civil servants would be resolved soon as the Federal Civil Service Act was about to be tabled in the parliament in a while, he said.
Resolution on effective implementation of federalism registered in Upper House
Lawmakers have asked for the effective implementation of the federalism.
The operation of the state affairs at all three levels should be in line with the spirit of federalism, they demanded while participating in a discussion on the resolution proposal related to the implementation of federalism that has been registered in the National Assembly today.
On the occasion, Suresh Kumar Ale Magar asked for a revolution blaming that the centralised power worked against the spirit of federalism by imposing its monopoly in resources and the distribution of power.
Madan Kumari Shah stressed the need for political commitments to make federalism pro-people while Kamala Panta asked for federalism to take people’s rights at their doorsteps.
Radheshyam Paswan said it is the collective responsibility of all to bolster the federalism. Hariram Chaudhary complained that there are still weaknesses in the implementation of federalism.
Prakash Pantha said challenges have increased in the implementation of federalism as the federal, provincial and local levels have not been provided with necessary legislations.
Ram Chandra Rai opined that although the political system has changed in the country, the condition of the general people has not improved.
He alleged that the issue of inclusion has been neglected although it is the mainstay of federalism.
Maya Prasad Sharma called for putting to an end the tendency of rent-seeking by the politicians and bureaucrats in the name of democracy, taking the people for a ride and exploiting them.
Bimala Rai said although federalism was established in the country with the goal of making the services provided by the state easily accessible to all, it has not been implemented in an effective way despite the country adopting federalism.
Khimlal Devkota, the proposer of the resolution motion, said although the citizens had aspirations of peace, good governance, sustainable development and prosperity after the overthrow of the centralized state system, works could not be carried out in accordance with the spirit of federalism.
Explaining about the rationale of registering the resolution proposal, he said the proposal has been registered by lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition benches so that the three tiers of the government will respect their respective powers as provided in the constitution.
He stressed that the proposal contains 15 points directing the government for implementing federalism in its letter and spirit.
Jitendra Narayan Dev of the Nepali Congress who seconded the proposal said there is no alternative to implementing federalism in its true spirit for promoting strong inter-level relations, roboust fiscal federalism, efficient administrative federalism, dynamism in law making and for effective delivery of services to the people.
“Some problems have been seen in the implementation of federalism. The goal of federalism is to provide good governance, relief and facilities to the people, the state reaching the grass roots households and building a society based on social justice,” he reiterated.
Another supporter of the proposal, Gopi Bahadur Achhami stressed that federalism should incorporate the feelings and aspirations of all the communities and help build a strong bond of pan-Nepali nationalism.
Nanda Chapain, who seconded the proposal, said that it is high time to ponder over whether the people have been really empowered as per the spirit of federalism and whether the rights secured through protracted political struggles have reached to the working class people.
Another supporter of the proposal Pramila Kumari reiterated that the federalism should be made stronger.
