Lalitpur, Dec. 19
Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Devraj Ghimire has said that discussions are underway about
the need for a review of the constitution.
"As the constitution nears a decade of implementation, discussions
are underway about the need for its review. It is important to deliberate on
our constitutional and legal provisions to keep the constitution dynamic and
relevant to the times," he said at the National Governance Symposium (NGS)
organised by Governance Lab of Daayitwa Abhiyaan in partnership with Nepal
Administrative Staff College (NASC) with support from the Prime Minister's
Office, National Planning Commission and Leadership Academy in Lalitpur on
Thursday.
He stressed on greater
cooperation among various levels of the government to ensure the success of
federalism in Nepal especially in the areas like school education, civil
service and police integration which are in the implementation phase.
"I believe that federal governance is
a process of continuous improvement, addressing problems as they arise.
However, the three levels of government still need to finalise some key policy
and legal frameworks," said Speaker Ghimire.
Each level of government is carrying out
its responsibilities, including policymaking and implementation, to achieve
common goals like sustainable development. This includes addressing the needs
of all sectors, genders, languages, religions, cultures, and minority
communities while focusing on designing and implementing development and
service delivery frameworks, he stated.
According to Ghimire, the success of
federalism is also reflected in how well these aspects are addressed.
"There don’t appear to be major
disagreements or disputes regarding the division of powers among the three
levels of government and their implementation. Some of the shortcomings
observed during the initial phase of federalism have also been resolved through
practice," he said.
Ek Narayan Aryal,
Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal, said that lack of coordination
among the sub-national governments in policy formation has posed challenges to
the prosperity.
"Green resilience
and inclusive development are the new initiatives in national development while
participation of youth is paramount to this drive. This demands intensified
collaboration among the three levels of the government," he said.
Aryal also suggested
removing duplicities in laws and adopting participatory approach in formulating
national and local policies. "The government is at the final stage to
amend the laws that create obstacles in national development – including laws
related to land acquisition and forest clearance," he said while seeking
feedback from the conference in this initiative.
He stated that without
proper digitalisation of public services, the delivery wouldn't be effective
and productive, so the government has expedited the digital development in the
areas like immigration, national identity cards and utility payments.
Speaking on the
occasion, Sapana Malla Pradhan, a Supreme Court Justice, said that the
constitutional bench at the Supreme Court has received many cases against the
local body-enacted laws conflicting with the constitution of the country.
"Strengthening of the local governments with better and effective policies
and laws and capacity development of leaders is vital for good governance and
effective service delivery," she said.
She also stressed that
the intent of the laws should be good with their focus on facilitating people,
not creating hurdles in their day-to-day affairs. Malla also said that there is
a challenge in changing the opinion and attitude of people towards the
inclusion of women across sectors and levels.
Likewise, Senior
Vice-President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
Anjan Shrestha, said that although the constitution had given a lot to all the
communities the private sector still feels that it is a bit conservative in
regard to the private sector.
The private sector had
also fought to bring about new changes in politics and economy and was
successful in mentioning 'open-market economy' in the constitution, he said. "Businesses
and industries are still facing the challenge of tax duplication at various
local bodies, all levels of the government should cooperate in removing such
redundancies," he suggested.
Dr. Rajan Khanal,
Executive Director of the NASC, said that since the country can't backtrack
from the principles of inclusivity, it should learn from the federal and
inclusivity models adopted by the federal states across the globe.
According to him,
discourse among the governments should happen frequently to troubleshoot the
challenges that arise while implementing the federal policies and practices.
The organisers said that the 2-day
conference was organised to foster discussions on and create a collaborative
community for governance innovations and inclusive development in Nepal.
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