Bagmati Chief Minister Criticizes Federal Government's Neglect of Provincial Rights

Hetauda. Bagmati Province Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya has accused the federal government of ignoring the existence and rights of the provincial government.

Addressing the budget session of the Provincial Assembly that began on Monday, Chief Minister Baniya said that the federal government has been indifferent to the coordination and cooperation that should exist between the three tiers of government in accordance with the spirit of federalism.

He stated that the provincial government is not just a unit of the federation but a separate government. He commented that the federal government's repeated interventionist circulars have ridiculed federalism.

Chief Minister Baniya expressed strong objection to the federal government adopting a discriminatory policy, especially regarding the facilities for the private secretaries (swakiya sachiv) of the provincial assembly members. He complained that although chief ministers of all seven provinces met the Prime Minister and drew his attention to the matter, they received positive assurances but no implementation so far.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the circular issued by the federal government regarding advertisements and tenders in the communication sector.

“The discrimination where federal parliament members have private secretaries but provincial assembly members do not is unacceptable,” said Chief Minister Baniya. “If the federal government does not end this discrimination, we will amend the regulations and abolish the post of private secretary. The constitution does not envision such a discriminatory arrangement.”