Biratnagar tops National local govt ranking; Kathmandu lags

KATHMANDU: The National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission has ranked Biratnagar Metropolitan City as the best-performing local government in the country, while Kathmandu Metropolitan City has placed significantly lower in its latest evaluation.

Biratnagar secured 78.11 percent, emerging as the top metropolitan city in the current fiscal year.

In contrast, Kathmandu received only 44.97 percent.

Lalitpur Metropolitan City ranked second with 76.33 percent, followed by Bharatpur Metropolitan City at 68.08 percent.

Pokhara Metropolitan City scored 58.76 percent, while Birgunj Metropolitan City obtained 54 percent.

Kathmandu Valley Municipalities

Among the 11 local governments in Kathmandu district, Nagarjun Municipality ranked first with 70.63 percent.

Other municipalities scored as follows:

• Tokha – 65.67%

• Chandragiri – 67.59%

• Kirtipur – 62.15%

• Kageshwari Manohara – 61.82%

• Tarkeshwar – 59.29%

• Gokarneshwar – 56.78%

• Shankharapur – 55.20%

• Dakshinkali – 53.22%

• Budhanilkantha – 51.39%

Bhaktapur and Lalitpur District Performance

In Bhaktapur district:

• Bhaktapur Municipality – 68.32%

• Suryabinayak Municipality – 66.52%

• Changunarayan Municipality – 62.59%

• Madhyapur Thimi Municipality – 50.92%

In Lalitpur district:

• Mahalaxmi Municipality – 51.78%

• Godawari Municipality – 40.93%

• Konjyosom Rural Municipality – 68.79%

• Mahankal Rural Municipality – 72.99%

• Bagmati Rural Municipality – 67.84%

Evaluation Criteria

The Commission evaluates local governments based on 17 performance indicators.

Key criteria include:

• Whether the annual budget was presented by Asar 10 of the fiscal year

• Approval of revenue projections

• Monthly transfer of 40 percent of revenue collected from house and land registration fees and entertainment tax to the Provincial Consolidated Fund

• Publication of the annual budget implementation review by the end of Kartik

• Effective mobilization of internal revenue

• Spending performance against allocated budgets

• Status of audit irregularities

• Use of the Local Consolidated Fund Management System

• Preparation of periodic development plans

Education indicators include:

• Net enrolment rate of children aged 5–12 (Grades 1–8) in the academic session 2082

• Student retention rate from Grade 8 to Grade 9

• Percentage of Grade 10 students from community schools securing at least a GPA of 1.6 or above

Health indicators include:

• Proportion of women receiving at least four antenatal checkups

• Proportion of fully immunized children

Local governments are also required to enter performance data within the stipulated deadline on the Commission’s electronic online portal.

The rankings are determined based on compliance and performance across these structured indicators, reflecting fiscal discipline, governance effectiveness, education outcomes, and health service delivery.