A meeting of the Development Committee of Parliament on Sunday formed a nine-member sub-committee headed by lawmaker Anita Devkota to study the formation process along with feasibility and infrastructure of new municipalities.

The decision comes amid the criticism that the government is declaring new municipalities without proper criteria due to political pressure. “The Committee will study both the state of implementing of the earlier municipality announcement and bases for declaring new municipalities and present its report within a month,” said Committee Chairperson Rabindra Adhikari.

In May, the government had announced 72 municipalities comprising 283 Village Development Committees and is preparing to announce 66 more municipalities across the country. The new announcement is also coming amid debate whether the new municipalities should be declared before determining the federal model, and in the backdrop of the government’s failure to manage the existing ones.

According to Laxmi Pandy, planning chief of Municipality Section under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, the proposal to declare 66 municipalities has been forwarded to the Cabinet for final approval.

The parliamentary committee, however, is for declaring new municipalities only after its sub-committee’s report comes out. Lawmakers believe the new announcement should be done only after the government ensures required human resources, infrastructure and economic viability. “The announcement should not be just for the sake of announcement. Many municipalities declared earlier still lack civil servants, buildings and other required facilities,” Adhikari said.