Do not carry the weight of federalism

After Congress and UML kept their respective ministries with themselves, the position was created by splitting the ministries to secure seats for Deepak Manange and another MP Phaninder Devkota. This distortion was earlier in the federal government, now it has been transferred to the states. Just last month, eight state ministers were added to Madhesh province to accommodate everyone, but they have been sacked after strong protests. However, this situation has been repeated sometimes in one or other province. Big parties in federal power are involved in this enterprise of weakening federalism by discrediting the province in this way.

Even in Gandaki province, the number of ministries reached to 12 at one time. After the 2079 election, the government formed under the leadership of Khagraj Adhikari reduced the number of ministries to seven. Although the same practice has been going on lately, after the disagreement between the two major parties on the allocation of shares, a measure has been devised to increase the number of ministries to nine. Now there will be a nine or more member cabinet. The politically easy and morally and financially unsightly option of dividing the ministry has been used to balance the portfolio or to preserve the position of the Chief Minister when there is a power crisis.

Lumbini province also had only seven ministries when Shankar Pokharel was the chief minister in 2074. Moreover, Pokharel, who also held the Ministry of Finance himself, led the government until 2078 along with five other ministers. After the power crisis in 2078, the number of ministries was reduced to 9. Maoist leader Kul Prasad KC, who became the Chief Minister after him, increased the number of ministries to 13. Even before that, he made the Council of Ministers 17 members by adding four state ministers. UML's Leila Giri, who became the Chief Minister after the 2079 election, reduced the number of ministries from 12 to 10. Jokh Bahadur Mahara of Maoist again increased it from 11 to 12.

Although the number of ministries is limited, the size of the council of ministers has been increased unnaturally by appointing state ministers. Only in July, Madhesh province's cabinet was criticized after it reached 20 members. Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh has simultaneously dismissed 8 state ministers and made the council of ministers 12 members. In this province, there were only seven ministers and three state ministers in 2074. In this way, the trend of Gandaki, Lumbini or Madhesh province is seen in all the provinces. While there is a constitutional facility to form the Council of Ministers by keeping up to 20 percent of the size of the Provincial Assembly.

That's why constitutional questions do not arise even when ministries are randomly divided in the province. But politically there is criticism. Because, even though the size of the cabinet is bigger, the public service delivery has not improved. Instead, it has only increased administrative expenses. The political leadership is not in a position to refute the understanding that the people are not getting the returns but that the state funds are being misused for the management of the leaders. Therefore, the parties should understand that the questions raised by the people are more meaningful than constitutional facilities. It is ironic that the leaders are negligent and the system has to bear the burden.

If the ministries are to be divided, the Chief Ministers themselves should be able to publicly confirm its rationale. However, even if we look at the latest example of Gandaki Province, the issue of division of ministries by the Chief Ministers to make or keep Deepak Manange as a minister has raised questions on the morality of the parties. However, no matter how many questions are raised, the parties have not taken the path of reform.

This is not the first time Manange has become a minister in Gandaki. Prithvi Subba Gurung made Manange the Minister of Youth and Sports for the first time on 16 Baisakh 2078 after the Chief Minister post was in crisis. The Ministry of Social Development was split to create this post. Even the present Chief Minister Surendraraj Pandey could not give up his passion, instead he is ready to divide the ministry. In the three years since 2078, Manange has been minister 6 times. The scene of Manange being a minister many times, who is fighting a case in the court in the killing industry, is making a joke not only of the parties, but also of federalism. But the leaders want to wear out the system by carrying the burden of manange and ending the credibility of the party.

Not only on behalf of the public, the committees formed at different times have also suggested reducing the number of ministries from the union to the state. The 'Empowered Federal Administrative Restructuring Committee' led by Kashiraj Dahal proposed seven ministries in the state. Last time, in the Federalism Implementation Study and Monitoring Parliamentary Special Committee report formed by the National Assembly under the leadership of the then member Khimlal Devkota, it was recommended that the number of ministries should not be less than 5 and be limited to 10 percent of the members of the Provincial Assembly. The

committee suggested reducing the number of ministries by saying that the general public's trust in federalism has decreased due to the increase in the number of provincial ministries and ministers and the increase in administrative expenses. The numbers and psychology expressed in this report have politically and constitutionally sensitive implications. Only if this psychology is adopted will the system become stronger. This issue needs to be addressed urgently if the parties are not to allow their weakness to become the country's weakness.