Less Revenue Share to Local Bodies Debated

July 13, 2017

The Nepal Parliament felt the heat on Wednesday, as the members debate on key government bills, such as Inter-Government Financial Management Bill, Local Governance Bill, and Bill on the Distribution of National Natural Resources and Finance Commission.

As part of the discussions, law makers from both the ruling and opposition parties found fault with the bill on distribution of natural resources and revenue among the Centre, provincial and local governments.

The bill proposes to allocate 78 percent of resources to the Centre, with just 7 percent and 15 percent to the provincial and local governments respectively.

Stating that the proposed bill will weaken local bodies, lawmaker Janak Raj Joshi said this would make the local bodies fully dependent on the Centre’s assistance.

CPN-UML lawmaker Purushottam Paudel felt that the proposed provisions in the three bills are diluting the constitutional powers granted to the local and provincial governments.

Noting that the local bodies should be independent, the Nepali Congress lawmaker Bharat Bahadur Khadka pitched for the allotment of 50 percent revenue share to the local bodies.

In response to the lawmakers’ arguments, the Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development said that these bills will give self-governing powers to the local bodies. He confirmed that certain provisions of the bills would be amended post discussions.