October 17, 2000

Lalitpur:Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that local bodies should be made still stronger, more capable and duly empowered for the sake of democracy’s stability and sustainable development.

The Prime Minister was inaugurating the seventh council of the District Development Committees Federation Nepal here today.

Mr Koirala said local bodies are the main basis of democracy and all political parties as well as all others concerned should cooperate with the government in making such bodies still more capable and effective.

Commitment and preparedness on the part of those involved in development in this area are indispensable for making the role of local bodies more decisive and result oriented with a view to bringing about the balanced development of all sectors in Nepal from the economic, social and political points of view, he said adding that the role of any unit or entity should be determined on the basis of the needs and challenges facing the country.

In view of the fact that the process of nation building in the new context would be incomplete without the active participation of women who constitute half the total population, the need of the day is to bring about a tremendous increase in the participation of women at the level of political leadership and decision making, he observed. That is why legal arrangements have been made for compulsory representation of women at every level of the local bodies, and our efforts towards bringing about equality through reinforcement in these arrangements should be given continuity, he further said.

As arrangement has been made for the decisions of the local bodies to reflect those who are weak, the significance and responsibility of local bodies when it comes to the balanced political and social development of the country has grown, he said.

Pointing out the need to initiate a system of making decisions with the focus on the real aspirations of the ethnic communities and women who have not had any opportunity for becoming competitive socially, educationally and economically, the Prime Minister said the need of today is to mobilise the means and resources available from the central to the local level towards the goal of poverty alleviation.

Grants made available to the local bodies should be channelled into concrete measures for achieving goals determined by the districts on the basis of local needs and a proper analysis of available means and resources, he said.

Follow up and evaluation have a big role in developmental effort and as fiscal discipline also can be brought about through this effort, the Federation should make its role in this direction more effective, he said.

He also gave assurances that the meaningful suggestion thrown up by the disscusions of this council with regard to the development of local bodies will be taken positively by His Majesty’s Government and properly implemented.

Leader of the main opposition party and CPN UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said that national development is not possible without first making local bodies capable, strong and replete with the means and resources and HMG should pay serious attention to this.

Remarking that the DDC Federation is playing a significant role in making local bodies strong, capable and effective, he said democracy will not meet with success until local bodies have an active part in national development and construction.

Pointing to the tendency of not delegating authority as the main obstacle here, he said no unit in the country has been able to make its work dynamic and prompt, adding that the pace of the bullock cart will not do when it comes to facing the challenges of the 2lst century.

There is delay and foot dragging in every sector, and if our country is to become competitive in the world there should be dynamism in all our work, he said.

Stressing the need for refinement in the Local Autonomy Act and laws, General Secretary Nepal said the country will not make strides until there is an end to the tendency for laws to over rule the constitution, for regulations to over ride laws and for orders to counterremand regulations.

Pointing out that much politicization had taken place in the Bishweshwar with the poor, the women’s awakening and Ganesh Man Singh peace programmes, he said local bodies should be given powers and abuse of authority should be punished.

He also said the Maoist problem shoud be tackled not through force and repression but through talks.

Director the World Bank South Asia Bureau for Social Development Lin Bennet said if local bodies are to be made financially strong, the funds generated by such bodies should be used for the benefit of the local community.

Democracy will be weak if local bodies are not sufficiently capable, MP Rajendra Prasad Pandey said and pointed out the need for equiping such bodies with the means and resources to consolidate democracy.

President of the Federation Krishna Prasad Sapkota, from the chair, said that autonomy cannot be granted to local bodies nor democracy safeguarded in the absence of decentralisation.

Vice chairman of the Federation Rishi Raj Lumsali, spokesperson Krishna Prasad Joshi, ex-president Krishna Lal Sapkota, Madhav Poudel, founder member Ramchandra Pokharel, VDC federation president Mahin Limbu, Municipality Association Chairman Dormani Poudel and representatives from donor agencies also expressed their views at the function.