Valley
NC makes a pitch for at least 1,000 units
Several Nepali Congress (NC) leaders speaking on the last day of the party’s two-day deliberations said on Monday that the Local Body Restructuring Commission (LBRC)’s proposal to have 565 local units across the country is “not only illogical but also impractical”.Sarin Ghimire
Several Nepali Congress (NC) leaders speaking on the last day of the party’s two-day deliberations said on Monday that the Local Body Restructuring Commission (LBRC)’s proposal to have 565 local units across the country is “not only illogical but also impractical”.
They suggested that the government rather double the number of units to make it easier for the general public to access state services and facilities. The LBRC had in July proposed that there should be 565 local units (village and municipal councils) across the country under the federal structure.
With the confusion over the number of local units yet to be cleared, uncertainty looms over the local level elections, which the Maoist-NC government plan to hold in March.
Party President Sher Bahadur Deuba, however, insisted that local elections should be held “at any cost”.
“At a time when the government has not been able to spend even 30 percent of the development budget, it is imperative that we hold the elections to make local governments active and accountable,” said Deuba. He, however, stressed on the importance of broader consensus among political forces for holding the elections.
“Let’s first find a meeting point on constitution amendment to address the demands of the agitating parties,” said Deuba. He also reiterated that the NC was open to holding local elections under the existing structure, provided that all the major forces agree to it. “If holding the polls without restructuring the local bodies is acceptable to the public, then why not? The terms of reference of the Local Body Restructuring Commission was set by the erstwhile government; it can be changed,” claimed the NC president.
Several district presidents also expressed their dissatisfaction at the LBRC’s proposal to reduce the number of local units.
“The LBRC proposal of 565 local units would mean confusion between chiefs of municipal councils and Members of Parliament,” said Jagdish Narsingh KC, former NC district president of Nuwakot.
“For example, we will have eight municipal council chiefs and at least 14 or 16 lawmakers in Kathmandu. In that sense, who should we consider more powerful—the municipal chiefs or the lawmakers?” questioned KC.
Sabuj Baniya, Kathmandu district president of the NC, claimed that the expert group has carved out units by “randomly using the population census”.
“Both population and geography should be taken into consideration. If people earlier had to travel a couple of days to reach village development committee offices, they will now have to travel more since the commission plans to join five-six VDCs in some places,” said Baniya.
The NC is holding exclusive talks with its local leaders to understand the ground-level sentiments of the general public before coming up with its official stance on restructuring of local bodies.
The party’s Parliamentary Board on Tuesday will discuss the matter further before the central committee takes the final call.