Drawing the federal government’s attention to their demand to adjust the police force and promulgate the federal civil service law has been the provincial leadership’s regular business for the last few months.

The chief ministers and ministers descend on Kathmandu to pressure the prime minister to address their demands. Every time they approach Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, he promises them to act immediately, and they return.

The cycle repeated on Saturday as well. The chief ministers of the seven provinces jointly presented a memorandum to Dahal explaining how the lack of police adjustment and the absence of federal civil service law, among other essential prerequisites, have affected the performance of provinces.

Dahal reiterated his commitment to adjusting the police force at the provincial level and passing the civil service law so that the provinces could set up their own bureaucracy.

The chief ministers returned to their provinces following the assurance. “The prime minister said he was seriously working to address our concerns. He informed us that he has already held discussions with the major parties,” Saroj Kumar Yadav, chief minister of Madhesh Province, told the Post. “We expect the federal government to show some results within a week. We believe the prime minister keeps his word.”

Following continuous delays by the Dahal administration in devolving constitutional authorities to the provinces, the chief ministers on Friday held a meeting among themselves and reached a conclusion that the provinces have not been able to function effectively because the federal government was indifferent towards formulating laws to delegate the constitutional authority. During the meeting, it was also decided that they would present their demand papers to the prime minister again.

“We reiterated our demands before the prime minister. He listened to us carefully and committed to start the work immediately,” Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, chief minister of Lumbini, told the Post. “We are optimistic this time.”

Adjustment of police at the provincial level, enacting the federal civil service law promptly, transferring ownership of land and the infrastructure currently used by the provincial governments to the provinces, and arrangements to deploy civil servants with the provincial government’s consent are other demands.

The provincial governments have also demanded a bigger share of the revenue for the provinces and local governments. Currently, the federal government keeps 70 percent of the revenue and allocates the remaining 30 percent to other layers of government. They have demanded 50 percent share of the national revenue to the provinces and the local level.

Eight years since the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal, the provinces have been unable to exercise their powers due to the federal government’s reluctance.

Schedule 6 of the constitution lists 21 exclusive rights of the provincial governments. Maintaining law and order and having the provincial police force are top priorities. Article 268(2) provisions the police force for each province. Clause 3 of the article says matters relating to the operation, supervision and coordination of functions to be discharged by the Nepal Police and the provincial police will be as provided for in the federal law.

The federal parliament in 2019 endorsed the Police Personnel Adjustment Act and the Act to Govern the Operation, Supervision and Coordination of Nepal Police and Provincial Police Forces. Subsequently, all the provinces have endorsed respective police laws to clear legal hurdles in managing the force. However, they cannot set up police forces without the federal government adjusting the existing police at the provincial level. The Act endorsed by Parliament in 2019 guides this process.

The Police Personnel Adjustment Act authorises the federal government to assign a deputy inspector general of Nepal Police to serve as the provincial police chief. The federal government can transfer such police officers to other provinces or any department of Nepal Police in consultation with the concerned provincial governments.

Since the first week of November, Madhesh Province has issued several deadlines to the federal government to fulfil its demands, warning of protests in the failure to do so. Other provinces subsequently extended their support to Madhesh.

“If the prime minister’s commitment is trustworthy, we won’t need to stage a protest,” said Yadav. “We will wait and see for some days before deciding what to do next.”