Federalism and Nepal Kiran Bhusal ( Alumni)

As long as the working style/trend of bureaucracy remains the same, changing the system won’t be fruitful, and until we change the trend of bureaucracy, our destiny will never change.

In Nepal, people are blaming the federal democratic republic system for corruption. However, I disagree and believe that the actual problem is with the working style/trend not with the system of ruling itself. And I think therefore that the general public, as well as the political leaders, need to concern themselves with finding an alternative to corruption - not the system.

Wallace Oates, an American economist and pioneer of decentralization theory, describes decentralization of power as an effective way to control corruption. Because the big economic decisions taken by the local government at the local level are ensured to be transparent in the public eye.

It also makes local politicians more accountable to the people. If the central government takes responsibility for local services instead of local government then it is likely to lead to more corruption because consumers of local services cannot monitor the bureaucrats and politicians in the capital.

People in Nepal still think federalism is a big failure in Nepal but I believe it is a great opportunity for us. The power and duties of the chief ministers of different states are still unknown. And so, there is still a huge dependency on the central government for many minor things.

However, there are many important tasks that state governments can do without being dependent on the central government. These tasks, which I am going to mention below, will play a major role in the overall development of the nation, people nationwide, and economy. These tasks will also help to gain global prestige. The tasks are explained below:

1. Establishment of the Organic State:

The state government can start a campaign to completely discourage chemical fertilizers and begin the use and production of organic fertilizers only. This will conserve the environment as well as maintain a good prestige throughout the world.

This will also help in the development of the tourism sector and help us to get foreign aid - which could be a great initiative, because chemical fertilizers are already turning food into a slow poison.

1. Declaration of a Plastic-Free State

Everybody knows plastic is very harmful to the environment. The state government can make and implement necessary rules and regulations to discourage the use of harmful plastic. It can also start recycling industries, which will further create employment opportunities.

These two tasks that I mentioned above might seem very minor with regards to the economy, but if we can establish a plastic-free organic state then we can easily attract local and international tourists - as well as foreign aid and investment.