Doubts over federalism getting cleared: Minister

KATHMANDU: Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajendra Shrestha has said the government was attentive to the full implementation of federalism.

Putting views on behalf of the government over the resolution proposal in regard with the implementation of federalism following the conclusion of discussions over it at the National Assembly today, the Minister said the country had already switched to a federal model as envisaged by the Constitution.

“Provisions relating to republic, secularism, inclusion and proportional representation have come into effect, and the main structure of federal, state and local governments are already functioning,” he said, adding that the second local level elections had been recently concluded and the government hoped it would contribute to further enhancing federalism.

Doubts hovering over federalism are being removed with its implementation, according to the Minister.

“For us, federalism was a new practice. There might have different sorts of views on it. Now, we all together should shoulder the responsibility to drive it on the right path,” he said. A parliamentary committee could be formed for the implementation, a study and the monitoring of federalism, he suggested. On its implementation, conclusions from this deliberation could be a guideline for the government, he viewed.

The government’s policies and programmes and budget for the next fiscal year, 2022/23 had adopted ways to strengthen federalism and the proper allocation of budget for the provincial and local levels would take place in the days to come, he said.

Problems facing civil servants would be resolved soon as the Federal Civil Service Act was about to be tabled in the parliament in a while, he said.