Provincial governments have urged the federal government to establish State Police and the State Public Service Commission as per the constitution.

Representatives of provincial governments raised these two important points during their meeting with teams led by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) secretaries.

The PMO had sent three separate teams to ascertain various issues regarding centre-province relations ahead of Inter-State Council meeting headed by Prime Minister.

The federal government’s procrastination in promulgating the necessary laws has delayed the setting up of State Police and State Public Service Commission. The Province 2 government has gone ahead and recently tabled a Bill on State Police in its Assembly. This move miffed the federal government and Nepal Police brass hats. The formation of State Public Service Commission is vital for provincial governments to recruit staff. Currently, staff deputed by the centre operates provincial governments. After the State Public Service Commission is set up, the provinces could recruit staff as per their requirements.

Home Ministry Spokesperson Ram Krishna Subedi said provincial governments should follow the federal law regarding the setting up of the State Police as per the constitution.

“We have drafted a bill on operation, supervision and co-ordination of Nepal Police and State Police which will work as umbrella law,” he told the Post. The federal government had recently informed Province 2 government not to go ahead with its legislation on State Police without the centre first promulgating a law for it, Province 2 officials said.

Province 2 government has criticized the central government’s move. Province 2 Minister for Physical Infrastructure Jitendra Sonal said, “Operating State Police Administration and maintaining law and order in the province should be top priority of the provincial government as per the constitution, but the centre feels uneasy to provide these rights as per the constitution.”

“The centre’s delay in handing over various institutions to the provincial government and lack of the adequate human resources were other issues we raised with the PMO secretaries,” Sonal said.

Delay in setting up State Police and State Public Service Commission were common concerns of most of the provinces, according to officials from the centre who visited the provinces. PMO Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari who toured province 5, 7 and Karnali Province said, “They (provinces) bemoaned the lack of adequate civil staff to run various offices. They also complained about the ‘ limited budget’ allocated to the provincial governments by the centre.”

Besides Adhikari, the PMO had assigned two other secretaries—Laxman Prasad Mainali to Provinces 1 and 2 and Lal Shankar Ghimire to Province 3 and Gandak Province.