National
Preps for setting fiscal roles for federal, provincial and local govts
The government is setting the standard for allocating budget to the federal, provincial and local governments by defining the responsibilities of each layer of administration in line with constitutional provisions.Prithvi Man Shrestha
The government is setting the standard for allocating budget to the federal, provincial and local governments by defining the responsibilities of each layer of administration in line with constitutional provisions.
The National Planning Commission and the finance and other ministries have worked out the details of programmes and projects that fall under the jurisdiction of the three-tier federal structure.
Funds will be allocated based on the programmes and projects to be undertaken by each layer of government, said Hari Bashyal, joint-secretary at the Finance Ministry.
Roads that connect national borders, roads that link two or more provinces, national highways and tunnel ways fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Provincial highways, roads connecting two or local units and suspension bridges come under the provincial government’s watch while agricultural roads, infrastructure related to rural access and local transport management are overseen by the local government.
The federal government will look after projects irrigating over 10,000 hectares of land in the Tarai and 1,000 hectares in the Hills and Mountain regions.
Projects spread over more than one province, issues involving sharing of water with neighbouring countries, management of big rivers and construction of transmission lines with capacity more than 33kv are the responsibility of the federal government.
The provincial government takes charge of repair of projects irrigating 2,000 to 20,000 hectares in the plains. Construction of province-level hydropower projects, rural electrification, construction of transmission lines up to 11KV, medium-scale river training and control of landslides covering 5,000-20,000 square metres fall under province government.
Rural water resource management, small irrigation projects, rural electrification and control of small-scale landslides fall under the jurisdiction of the local government.
In the agriculture, land management and cooperative sectors, the central government is supposed to handle purchase of chemical fertilisers, national level poverty alleviation programme, research related to livestock health, land information system, border survey and national policy on cooperatives. The state government oversees provincial farm centres; programmes related to boosting farm productivity, seed supply and regulation. The local government is supposed to oversee agriculture extension programmes and registration of cooperatives and targeted programmes for the poor.
In the areas of drinking water, projects catering to more than 50,000 people in the Tarai, 25,000 in the Hills and 5,000 in Mountain regions fall under the jurisdiction of the central government. The provincial government is tasked with building water supply schemes for 10,000 to 50,000 people in the Tarai, 10,000 to 25,000 in the Hills and 2,000-5,000 people in the Mountain regions.
The local government is expected to undertake projects supplying potable water for up to 10,000 people, 5,000 in the Hills and 2,000 in the upper regions.
In urban areas, building of urban infrastructure and setting building codes fall under the federal government. Targeted housing programmes and integrated development of settlements fall under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. Local level policies and rules for urban development, land pooling for integrated urban development and local urban infrastructure are the responsibilities of the local government.
In the area of education, the federal government is supposed to handle higher education and to set the standard for school education while the provincial government manages food for education programmes, vocational education training and polytechnic institutes. The local government is supposed to provide for school education, informal education and child development programmes.
Health insurance, epidemic control and regulation of national level hospitals and setting standards on
vaccination, equipment and laboratory are the duties of the Centre.
The provincial government will regulate operation of regional and sub-regional hospitals and vaccination programmes while coordinating with local health services. The local government looks after basic health services and management of health posts and district hospitals.
“We are working on the division of responsibilities in the spirit of the constitution so that resources could be distributed scientifically to different layers of the government,” said Bashyal.