Strategy for Administrative Federalism in Nepal
Federalism is frequently traced to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. But law professor Alison LaCroix argues it dates back to the 1760s, when colonial legislatures worked to settle local issues without involving the British Parliament. LaCroix argues that scholars who trace federalism to that early period focus too much on the role of institutions. She calls the emergence of American federalism “one of the most important ideological developments of the period.” (Courtesy: U. Chicago)
Some of the strategies for effective administrative federalization, public service delivery and government service management in Nepal after the adoption of political and fiscal federalization are presented here.
i) Legal and policy reform: This will involve extending technical support to enactment of the basic laws and revision of existing laws, including civil service law and the sectoral laws that relate to intergovernmental relations, relevant policies and standards, development of model laws for provinces. Likewise, this will mean to include: among others, support to design of policies for management of public services / civil service at different levels of government, promotion of gender and social inclusion policy and delivery of services to people, including marketization of public services, facilitation of managerial innovations and practices of e-governance by adapting to technological innovations. ii) Institutional reframing and mechanisms for effective public service delivery: This component will have to include re-structuring of the existing ministries in reduced 12 number and decentralized form with restructuring as well as creation of other organization-set-ups at federal, provincial and local levels. A few new organizations will be needed as integrators at different levels of government like Inter-Provincial Council, Federal-Provincial Coordination Council, along with strong administrative mechanisms for fiscal federalism. Necessary institutional mechanisms will need to be installed or strengthened for effective delivery of public services to people, focussing on poor, marginalised and socially disadvantaged groups. Besides strengthening of anti-corruption agencies, mainstreaming performance management approach in administration and management of public institutions in wider scale will also have to be prioritized under this component. iii) Management of civil servants: This will have to include a few selective activities such as: a) identifying the human resource needs at different levels of government under the federal structure during and after transition; b) making staff arrangements from among existing civil servants and local body staff at different tiers of government through staff re-allocation from surplus to deficit sector of government in order to give continuity to delivery of public services before creating federal civil service and other government services; c) developing civil service policy and strategy; and d) creating federal civil service and other government services at central and sub-national government levels, including process and standards for their administration relating to recruitment, development and utilization, through needed legislation and policy decisions iv) Capacity building: Apart from capacity-building of several public agencies for federalization, decentralization and transition management, etc, this component will have to include: a) building human resource capacity of administrative and developmental institutions operating in public sector through different means; b) supporting aspiring women and members of socially excluded groups for civil service entry examinations and development of in-service capacity building; and c) capacity-building of lead agencies like MoGA, PSC, OPMCM, for administrative federalization. Some innovative measures like execution of HRD plan in civil service, with development of staff data base and inventory of service seekers and administrative outreach for them, will also be considered. Likewise, design and execution of sectoral transition management plan for major sectoral ministries for re-organizing existing administrative set-ups in line with the needs of state restructuring will have to take place with stocktaking of the existing human and physical resources. Capacity development of newly created organizations at federal, provincial and local levels will also need to be included in this component. v) Strategic communication: A wider participation and ownership in administrative restructuring process is necessary for sustainable change process guided by collective wisdom. This component will consist of: a) interactions / consultations among key government officials and representatives of public servants by profession/ and levels, public service users, professional associations, civil societies from different sectors, etc. on the subjects of administrative transition, restructuring and strengthening; b) use of mass communication media for reaching and interacting with different stakeholders of public services at political and administrative levels on the subjects of mutual interests.
Some of the strategies for effective administrative federalization, public service delivery and government service management in Nepal after the adoption of political and fiscal federalization are presented here.
i) Legal and policy reform: This will involve extending technical support to enactment of the basic laws and revision of existing laws, including civil service law and the sectoral laws that relate to intergovernmental relations, relevant policies and standards, development of model laws for provinces. Likewise, this will mean to include: among others, support to design of policies for management of public services / civil service at different levels of government, promotion of gender and social inclusion policy and delivery of services to people, including marketization of public services, facilitation of managerial innovations and practices of e-governance by adapting to technological innovations. ii) Institutional reframing and mechanisms for effective public service delivery: This component will have to include re-structuring of the existing ministries in reduced 12 number and decentralized form with restructuring as well as creation of other organization-set-ups at federal, provincial and local levels. A few new organizations will be needed as integrators at different levels of government like Inter-Provincial Council, Federal-Provincial Coordination Council, along with strong administrative mechanisms for fiscal federalism. Necessary institutional mechanisms will need to be installed or strengthened for effective delivery of public services to people, focussing on poor, marginalised and socially disadvantaged groups. Besides strengthening of anti-corruption agencies, mainstreaming performance management approach in administration and management of public institutions in wider scale will also have to be prioritized under this component. iii) Management of civil servants: This will have to include a few selective activities such as: a) identifying the human resource needs at different levels of government under the federal structure during and after transition; b) making staff arrangements from among existing civil servants and local body staff at different tiers of government through staff re-allocation from surplus to deficit sector of government in order to give continuity to delivery of public services before creating federal civil service and other government services; c) developing civil service policy and strategy; and d) creating federal civil service and other government services at central and sub-national government levels, including process and standards for their administration relating to recruitment, development and utilization, through needed legislation and policy decisions iv) Capacity building: Apart from capacity-building of several public agencies for federalization, decentralization and transition management, etc, this component will have to include: a) building human resource capacity of administrative and developmental institutions operating in public sector through different means; b) supporting aspiring women and members of socially excluded groups for civil service entry examinations and development of in-service capacity building; and c) capacity-building of lead agencies like MoGA, PSC, OPMCM, for administrative federalization. Some innovative measures like execution of HRD plan in civil service, with development of staff data base and inventory of service seekers and administrative outreach for them, will also be considered. Likewise, design and execution of sectoral transition management plan for major sectoral ministries for re-organizing existing administrative set-ups in line with the needs of state restructuring will have to take place with stocktaking of the existing human and physical resources. Capacity development of newly created organizations at federal, provincial and local levels will also need to be included in this component. v) Strategic communication: A wider participation and ownership in administrative restructuring process is necessary for sustainable change process guided by collective wisdom. This component will consist of: a) interactions / consultations among key government officials and representatives of public servants by profession/ and levels, public service users, professional associations, civil societies from different sectors, etc. on the subjects of administrative transition, restructuring and strengthening; b) use of mass communication media for reaching and interacting with different stakeholders of public services at political and administrative levels on the subjects of mutual interests.
