Standing top of the list of provinces, Province 5 reported 7.37 percent growth rate for the fiscal year.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said this in its announcement in Butwal on May 20, 2019.

Meanwhile, Gandaki Province stood second with 7.06 percent economic growth, followed by Province 3 (7.04 percent), Province 2 (6.53 percent), Province 1 (6.49 percent) and Far Western Province (6.25 percent), respectively.

Province 5 had 6 percent topped the list in the last year.

This news gains significance in view of the government’s emphasis on growth of local bodies in the upcoming year through Federal Budget 2019-20.

Hope the governmental efforts will reflect in overall economic growth of the country.

Also Read:–

• Gandaki Province Ahead in Nepal’s Cable Car Projects
• Province 3 Wins Nepal U16 Cricket League Championship
• Nepal Province 2 Introduces Education Insurance Program for Daughters
• Province 5 Five-Year Plan Structuring in Full Swing

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Province 3 emerged as the champion of the Nepal U-16 national cricket league that concluded at the Tribhuvan University cricket ground on April 08, 2019.

In the last match of the tournament on the day, Province 3 won the toss to bat first.

Despite a slow start followed by the loss of 3 wickets in just 37 runs, the team had to fight back to finally score 162 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 30 overs.

Bhattarai rescued the team by scoring 56 runs from 71 deliveries. He continued for a 58-run partnership with the fourth wicket.

Mahat is another player who played crucial by scoring 34 runs from 32 deliveries.

Abhishek Upadhaya’s half century and Prashant Mahat’s contribution stood crucial to Province 3 team’s score card.

Province 5 team, who stepped in to bat, made a good start and continued with the amazing 61-run partnership of Bishal Bikram KC and Amar Mishra.

However, Krish Karki of Province 3 gave a jolt to the Province 5 team by taking KC’s wicket, driving the latter to lose the match.

Other bowlers of Province 3 team also did their best. While Bibek Darai and Deepak Bohora shared two wickets each, Sakriya Karki and Tilak Bhandari managed with one wicket, each.

Overall, Province 3’s Ayees Bhattarai and Province 5’s Ramesh Kurmi have been declared as the Best Batsman and Best Bowler, respectively. While, Province 4’s Arjun Kumal was named for the Emerging Player of the tournament category.

A total of 7 provinces participated in this tournament organized by the Youth and Sports Ministry in coordination with National Sports Council.

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The fifth edition of this festival is aimed at tourism promotion of Province 1 and will see participants from Nepal, India, and Bhutan, respectively.

Mechinagar Municipality, Tribhuvan University and organizations such as International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Bahundangi Jaycees and Green Generation and Travel Association of Jhapa are other key organizations supporting the event.

Special events at the event include:

• Tourist-guide training
• Gandharva singing competition
• Art competition

Besides these special activities, the event also features stalls offering local cuisine. Travel Association of Jhapa Chair Neer Bahadur (Netra) Karki is confident that the festival would contribute to efforts to promote rural tourism in Province 1.

Complete Liquor Ban from Jan 25!

In another decision boosting the tourism activity in the district, the Inland Revenue Office (IRO) of Bhadrapur decided to ban the distribution and sale of homemade liquor in the district. The decision was taken in view of the growing crime and domestic violence cases in the region owing to increased alcohol consumption.

According to IRO Chief Bodhraj Dahal, the district will see various awareness and orientation programmes starting from January 25 to make the drive a grand success. Dahal informed that the legal provision mandates the immediate ban on the sale of alcohol and beverages at a certain distance (within 100 metres) of the key public areas such as hospital and educational institutions.

The announcement follows the 12-point commitment set and agreed upon by all the 15 local levels in Jhapa, people involved in the hotel business, District Police Office of Jhapa, Jhapa Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other organizations on September 7, 2018.

The 12-point commitment had called for the announcement of the district, a completely alcohol-controlled zone from January 15, 2019. There are many other districts that have launched similar campaigns to control the production and sale of homemade liquor in the past.

Hope the ‘liquor ban’ will supplement the Province’s efforts to promote the rural tourism in a much better way.

All the best Province-1!

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The Cabinet approved this proposal of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) on October 15, 2018, informed Matrika Prasad Yadav, Minister, MoICS.

IEDI has been limited to the central level since its inception in 1996 under the Industrial Enterprise Development Institute Act 1996.

Now, IEDI board’s new decision will promote it at the provincial levels promoting business environment in the country through entrepreneurship development.

The initiative aims to develop human & knowledge resource needed for business and entrepreneurship promotion in the country.

With focus on Research & Development, testing and implementation of world’s best practices in business development, IEDI has been actively supporting impact-generating activities such training & consultancy, enterprise and management development programs.

“Formation of such institutes in all provinces will help entrepreneurship to grow in Nepal and promote business,” says Industry Secretary Yam Kumari Khatiwada.

According to Khatiwada, IEDI currently has local offices in Provinces 1, 3, 4 and 5, which will now be operated by the provincial governments, and similar ones will also be established in Provinces 2, 6 and 7 upon cabinet approval.

In another update, the Cabinet has decided to limit the authority of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Authority to the Center.

Let’s hope more such enhancements to the existing policies and implementation of new measures will boost the industrial development in Nepal, thus also generating ample employment opportunities in the country.

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As the reports say, the government is negotiating on a new deal with 14 donor agencies to raise a fund of Rs 23 billion to support civil services capacity development.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) is planning to utilize this fund over a period of four years towards capacity enhancement of civil servants across 750 local units.

According to MoFAGA, the country currently has around 17,900 civil servants across local units.

Whereas, Dinesh Thapaliya, Secretary at MoFAGA feels that the country would still require more civil servants for effective functioning of local bodies. In a briefing to the State Affairs Committee (SAC), he said the country is currently short of 40,000 civil servants.

“Government is planning to spend Rs 23 billion on capacity enhancement and training for civil servants at the local units over the next four years. We have chosen 14 donor agencies for the purpose, but we are yet to sign the official agreement,” said Thapaliya.

He further informed that the funds will be used through the provincial governments without any direct involvement of federal or local governments.

Civil Servants, Need of the Hour
Under the plan, the Ministry will classify all local units into 10 categories based on population, revenue, infrastructure and geography.

And, even a small local unit will have at least three special officers including an education officer, an engineer and a chief executive.

According to MoFAGA, this situation is the result of government’s failure to deploy required number of civil servants at the local level. “Most of the civil servants transferred to local units in Province 2 were either sent back by the local units or ran into complaints of failure to perform,” says Thapaliya.

However, officials claim that lack of timely deployment is majorly due to delay in the passage of the Federal Civil Servants Bill.

The cabinet approved 45,858 civil service positions at the central level including for different bodies such as courts, Foreign Ministry and Attorney General’s Office and has given only 21,399 for the provinces and 58,000 for local levels.

Thapaliya feels that 28,000 civil servants will be enough to meet related requirements at the center.

Event lawmakers, opposition party leaders and others find fault with the government’s act of utilizing funds for training and seminars and urge that it should instead focus on producing more civil servants.

Let’s hope the new deal will give needed push to address the civil servant requirements at all levels of the country.

Also Read:

• Staff Shortage Alert! Provincial Governments Face the Heat

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According to Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) recent study titled Economic Activity in Federal Structure, Province 3 contributed to about 31.6 percent of Nepal’s GDP followed by Province 1 at 17.5 percent and  Province 2 at 16.2 percent.

Province 3 also aced the chart in terms of per capita income. According to NRB’s report, Province 3 residents per capita income stands at USD 1,534 followed by Province 4 at USD 1,021 and Province 2 at USD 799.

Interestingly, Province 5 topped the table in terms of ‘access to banking’ with only 3 out of the 109 local units not having access to banking services. Followed by 23 local bodies in Province 7 and 20 in Province 6.

Province 5 has also made significant contribution to the country’s agriculture sector, industrial output and service sector with contributions of 16.9, 10.4 and 11.7 percent, respectively.

The study’s findings were revealed at program in Nepal’s Butwal on September 30, 2018.

Province 2– Avenue for Business & Trade
Creating room for additional growth, Province 2 opened avenues for business & trade when Chief Minister Lal Babu Raut said that the government is committed to creating an ‘investment-friendly’ environment.

“The government is ready to provide investment security to promote business and trade in the province,” he said in a ceremony organized at the Dhanusha Chamber of Commerce & Industry on September 29, 2018.

Province 7 Named ‘Sudurpashchim’
In another interesting update, Province 7 was named Sudurpashchim at a meeting of the Provincial assembly on September 29, 2018. Simultaneously, Godawari was chosen as its provincial capital.

Conclusion:
With so many achievements at the grass-root level, Nepal is bound to make progress at the international level. It is noteworthy that this progress is happening at a much faster rate and with mutual co-operation from the government, people and key stakeholders.

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In a recent move, the government announced plans to create a new ‘Basket Fund’ that would pool foreign donations and take ahead the same to local bodies as a conditional grant through federal administration.

The latest decision comes as solution to the long-standing concern over the distribution of foreign funds to the development projects across the provincial and local units of the country.

The new decision gains significance in view of the fact that Nepal Constitution allows foreign fund access only to provincial governments through Centre’s consent, with no such access to local bodies in any way.

According to the Finance Ministry officials, the donors are eager to help local and provincial bodies in their early stage of development under the federal set-up.

“We seek to give them a window to mobilize their resources for programmes implemented by provincial and local governments,” says Shree Krishna Nepal, Chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division, Ministry of Finance.

As the officials say, the federal government however requires more resources for financing infrastructure projects.

“We have demanded technical assistance less than 10 percent of overall assistance for the provincial or local levels,” says another official.

In line with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration recommendations, the government discussed with donors on ways to create a single ‘basket fund’ that can be utilized in different priority areas in consultation between the two sides.

“A local unit will be responsible for implementing a project within its area of jurisdiction while schemes covering more than one local unit will be funded through the provincial government,” says Amrit La msal, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Federal Affairs. 

Besides, there exists confusion over the utilization of foreign funds that doesn’t fall under the budgetary system.

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In continuation to the existing Micro-Enterprise Development Program (MEDP), the government has recently announced its additional budget of Rs1.09 billion for the development of micro enterprises during 2018-19.

Under the new plan, the government is preparing to distribute funds for micro enterprise development across local and provincial governments.

MEDPA, An Enhanced MEDP
After the initial establishment to encourage socially-excluded groups through off-farm employment, the government internalized MEDP as the Micro Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation (MEDPA) in December 2017.

According to the Secretary for Ministry of Industry Yam Kumari Khatiwada, the government is planning to implement the program using domestic resources.

“The ministry is in the process of formulating a directive to run the program, which will soon be sent to the Cabinet for final approval,” says Khatiwada.

According to the Ministry, enhancing operations at the grassroots level, boosting the product quality and improving market access are among key challenges pertaining to the implementation of MEDPA across the country.

Progress So Far
According to Khatiwada, the Ministry has so far reached out to poor communities across more than 500 local units encouraging them to operate micro enterprises.

Over the last two decades, the program has benefited lakhs of Nepalis across 77 districts by providing direct jobs to more than 170,149 and indirect opportunities to 172,425 people across the country.

A 2014 MEDP study reports that the program has improved the lives of more than 5 lakh people across the country.

“A large number of women in particular have benefitted from the program. Among them, 74 percent were women and 26 were from the Dalit community,” says the Ministry.

Through the program, the government aims at cutting down the number of workers moving out of the country for jobs by encouraging them to set up micro and small enterprises.

Nepal Government formed MEDP in 1998 with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Australia and has been making efforts to encourage micro enterprises across the country.

Let’s hope the latest move in this regard will help the government in realizing the true potential of the program!

Also Read: Nepal Employment Status: 2.8 Lakh Jobs Per Year Need of the Hour, says World Bank

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This was announced amid a special program organized in Pokhara on July 11, 2018.

Kaski’s recognition as a fully-vaccinated region is coming as a result of successful immunization campaign held across different wards of Pokhara metropolis.

According to Ek Narayan Lamsal, District Public Health Officer of Kaski, more than 8000 children below 15 years of age in the district are fully vaccinated.

“Children up to the age of 15 months have been administered 11 types of vaccines,” says Lamsal.

Fully Immunized
It is noteworthy that Pokhara is also widely known as a ‘fully immunized metropolis’ and other local levels of the district have already been declared ‘fully immunized’.

After Kaski, now Syangja remains to be the only district in the Gandaki Province waiting for the
‘fully vaccinated’ status.

Speaking on the occasion, Province 4 Minister for Social Development Nardevi Pun Magar said Syangja will also be offered a similar status very soon, thus finally declaring the entire province as ‘fully vaccinated’.

In his address, Gandaki Province Chief Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said the government is open for implementation of policies that ensure public health and is also willing to work with central and local governments.

On the occasion, Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Man Bahadur GC lauded the support of political parties and health volunteers in making the metropolis fully-immunized.

Chapakot Village Development Committee (VDC) was the first to receive the ‘fully immunized’ status three years ago, after which Pokhara sub-metropolitan was declared ‘fully vaccinated’.

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The Provincial Assembly announcement came after 52 of 60 lawmakers endorsed Pokhara as the provincial capital after the region gained acceptance with two-third majority in the Assembly.

While Nepal Communist Party Lawmaker Krishna Bahadur Thapa proposed the motion, Nepali Congress Mani Bhadra Sharma supported the move before the Deputy Speaker Srijana Sharma finally declared the region as the headquarters of Province 4. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Bikash Lamsal called on the related stakeholders to work for conservation of Pokhara’s beauty. 

We have to rally behind the greater Pokhara concept including Kusma, Phalebas, Putalibazar, Madhyabindu and Suklagandaki, says Bikash Lamsal

In the parliamentary committee report formed to study the proposed capitals of Province 4, 93.87 percent voted for Pokhara with only 3.99 percent in favor of Gorkha and other regions.  

Following a study covering all 11 districts, the committee headed by Thapa tabled its final report in the Provincial Assembly on June 24, 2018. 

The committee was formed on March 26, 2018 and covered a total of 751 individuals from all the districts over the selection of name and capital for the province.  

As part of the survey, the panel also considered recommendations from political parties in the Assembly, social organizations and memorandums submitted to it. 

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