Around a decade after the new constitution federated the country, the local level is still short of over a third of the needed civil servants, who are still largely mobilised from Kathmandu.

Only 43,807 positions among the 67,719 sanctioned posts have been filled, leaving 36 percent vacancies. The situation is no better at the provincial level. A study by the Federalism and Localisation Centre led by Khimlal Devkota, a former member of the National Assembly, shows that only 13,821 positions of the 22,236 are vacant in the seven provinces.

“Out of the 88 local units in Sudurpaschim Province, 42 are without chief administrative officers,” according to the report. Devkota says the situation is no different in the local units of other provinces. Presenting a report on Saturday based on the centre’s study and interactions held in the seven provinces, Devkota said the federal government’s apathy for the local and provincial governments’ needs has affected their services.

According to the study, the chief ministers blame the centralised mindset of the federal government and its lack of will for the resource crunch facing the local and provincial governments. They unanimously said that only greater autonomy for the provinces would strengthen federalism. For that, the vacant positions of civil servants must be filled; they should have their own police force to maintain law and order.

Several offices subordinate to the central government have no use from the federalism perspective. “They must be shut down, and resources should be transferred to the provincial and local governments to strengthen them,” said Devkota. He also pointed out that lack of the Federal Civil Service Act and failure to adjust the police force continue to mar the first decade of federal exercise.

Successive governments have ignored the provinces’ repeated calls to adjust the police force at the provincial level and promulgate 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.

The schedule lists 21 exclusive powers of the provincial government.

Maintaining law and order is the first provincial responsibility on the list. Article 268 (2) also states that each province will have its own police force.

Likewise, Clause 3 of the Article says that matters relating to the operation, supervision and coordination of functions to be discharged by the 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. Similarly, all the provinces have endorsed their respective provincial police laws to clear legal hurdles in overseeing their police forces.

However, they cannot set up police forces unless the federal government readjusts the existing force at the provincial level.

Devkota’s study also finds that the number of elected representatives at the local level is now fewer than in the pre-federalism period.

Against 36,041 wards when the village development committees and the municipalities were in place, the 753 local units at the present have only 6,743 wards. Similarly, the number of elected representatives at present is 35,097 against 205,999 in the pre-federalism period.

Speaking at the report’s launch, Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Saturday said he wants the Federal Civil Service bill and other federalism-related bills endorsed by Parliament.

“We know that the general public’s dissatisfaction from the lack of the Federal Civil Service Act has weakened administrative federalism,” Ghimire said. “We are working to quickly endorse the bills related to civil service, police, and school education from Parliament.”