Provincial governments are making a fresh push for the federal government to adjust the police force at the provincial level and pass the Federal Civil Service Act.

With no signs of Singha Durbar’s readiness to adjust the police force any time soon, the Koshi government on Friday forwarded a 10-point demand to the National Development Action Committee (NDAC). Federal ministers, and vice-chairperson and members of the National Planning Commission are members of the prime minister-led committee.

“Our demands have been forwarded to the NDAC through the chief minister. Implementation of those issues is necessary for the provincial governments to function in full gear,” Bhupendra Rai, provincial minister for infrastructure development, told the Post. Hikmat Bahadur Karki of the CPN-UML is the Koshi chief minister.

Stressing that provincial police administration and public security fall under the jurisdiction of the provinces, the Karki government has repeated its call for immediate adjustment of police personnel so as to strengthen federal governance.

Along with the adjustment of police and enactment of the federal civil service Act, the province also demanded demarcation of national forests at the provincial level and its publication in the Nepal Gazette. Though the authority to levy vehicle taxes lies with the provincial government, fines and penalties in the transportation sector are collected by the federal traffic police and deposited into the national coffer. “A mechanism needs to be established to ensure that the fines and penalties go to the provinces,” reads one of the demands.

Rai said the Koshi province had to reiterate its demands as there had been only talks but no action in strengthening the provinces. Without its own police force and civil servants, the provincial administration cannot function properly.

Successive governments have ignored the provinces’ repeated calls to realign the police force and issue the federal civil service law.

To build pressure on Kathmandu, the Madhesh provincial assembly unanimously endorsed a resolution motion on December 6 last year, stating that the provinces should be allowed to exercise all the authorities delegated to them by Schedule 6 of the Constitution of Nepal.

Schedule 6 of the constitution lists 21 exclusive authorities of the provincial governments. Maintaining law and order and having its own provincial police tops the list. Article 268 (2) also states that each province will have its own police force. Clause 3 of the Article says that matters relating to the operation, supervision and coordination of the functions to be discharged by Nepal Police and the provincial police shall 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. All the provinces have endorsed the laws to clear the legal hurdles in overseeing their police forces.

However, the provinces cannot establish their own police forces unless the federal government reorganises the existing police force, as per the Act endorsed by Parliament in 2019.

The Police Personnel Adjustment Act authorises the federal government to assign a deputy inspector general of Nepal Police to serve as 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.

However, in case of other personnel adjusted to provincial police forces, the relevant provincial official can transfer such personnel to any police unit in the province. Ignoring repeated demands of the provinces, successive federal governments have hesitated to implement the Police Personnel Adjustment Act.

Immediately after assuming the home ministry, Ramesh Lekhak on July 17 said that the government would table amendments to Nepal Police Act and Police Personnel Adjustment Act in the federal parliament to ease the adjustment process.

He had said that revision of the laws was necessary for proper operation, supervision and coordination of Nepali Police and the provincial police.

Lekhak had claimed the amendment bills would be registered within a week. But that didn’t happen. The House session has already been prorogued. It will take at least two months for the new session to commence.