The government has re-implemented the Civilization Program for the next five years with the aim of enhancing the capacity of the state and local levels by strengthening the system, process and intergovernmental relations of the federal government with the financial support of development partners.

Earlier, the program was re-implemented by making general changes to the previous format, name and process when confusion was created after the budget allocated for the program that started in 2019 was not spent and it was not effective as per the purpose.

The government has renewed cooperation agreements with development partners to continue the program . The main objective of the program is to increase the capacity of provincial and local governments and maintain good governance and gender equality. The program named State and Local Government Facilitation (PLGSP) will be conducted by focusing on state and local levels. 

Provincial and Local Government Support Program (PLGSP) has been implemented with a new structure by changing the format and name of the Province and Local Government Support Program which has been operating for five years since 2019.

 For the program, an agreement has been reached with the development partners to spend 79.23 million US dollars, i.e. about 11 billion Nepalese rupees. It has been agreed that 52.66 million US dollars of the total amount will be provided by the partners. 26.57 million US dollars will be borne by the government of Nepal. This amount has to be spent in five years targeting the state and local levels. According to the agreement, development partners European Union, FCDO, NORBE, SDC, UNDP, UN agencies and USAID will provide the funds.

From the money left over from the first phase of the program, the amount is going to be spent again for the next five years (July 16, 2024 to July 15, 2029) targeting the capacity development and planning of people's representatives and employees to make the implementation of federalism more effective. Union, state and local levels will be able to spend 10, 50 and 40 percent of the total amount agreed upon. The Federal Ministry has stated that states and unions have been given more priority to strengthen federalism and maintain institutional governance.

According to Rudrasinh Tamang, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, this program was conducted from 2019 to effectively implement the federal system by spending 11 billion from the partners and 14 billion from the government, including 3 billion from the government. But after five years of the agreement, only 61 million of the 140 million US dollars agreed with donors was spent, and the capacity of the government mechanism was raised. Now the partners have signed an agreement to re-run the program in a new structure by providing the remaining funds. 

Since last July, when there is confusion about whether the program will be implemented again, after five months of the financial year, an agreement has been reached with the development partners . The government has agreed to spend a long time reviewing the program. The agreement will be deemed to have come into effect from last July. The plan will be revised so that the available funds can be spent mainly on all kinds of training needed to strengthen the federal structure. 

Ministry has informed that most of the budget will be spent to support good governance and capacity development. Under the program, a strategy will be made for capacity development and transformation with integrated methods and interventions to strengthen the capacity of all levels of structures, management, civil servants and public representatives with technical assistance teams at the federal and provincial levels. Under the

program, an 'Innovative Fund' will be arranged to mutually exchange good practices at the state and local levels. All funds other than those under that heading will be spent on software programs . Before the country went to federalism, the government was conducting the Local Governance and Community Development (LGCDP) program when there were no local elections. PLGSP was implemented from 2019 to be compatible with the same program . Since the program is not effective, it has been implemented in a new form when there is uncertainty whether it will be continued. 

According to previous agreements, development partners including the European Union, Norway, Switzerland and the United States of America supported . However, the federal government, state and local governments could not effectively formulate and implement the plan, so the allocated budget for this period could not be spent .

Although the work, duties and rights of the three levels of government are mentioned in the constitution, it is expected that the role of PLGSP will also be mentioned to solve the practical problems. The federal ministry has informed that the program has been reviewed and some structures have been changed due to the fact that the work could not be done according to the purpose. Joint Secretary Tamang informed that the program will be decided so that almost 80 percent of the program and budget will be spent by the provincial and local levels. The governments of America, Norway and Switzerland have committed to provide more budget for the program. The commitment has come. The formalities are yet to be given," said Joint Secretary Tamang. "If the commitments made by the development partners are fulfilled, the size of the budget proposed for the next five years will increase further." 

The objective of the program is to achieve quality services, good infrastructure and economic prosperity in order to get the maximum benefit from federalism. According to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, the Joint Financial Arrangement (JFA) was signed between the government and the development partners on 13th November. After the signing, the annual strategic action plan has been approved by the Council of Ministers.

Co-Secretary Tamang has sent the authority to implement the budget to all seven provincial chief secretaries. According to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, the main goal is the delivery of the programs conducted for the people and the guarantee of good governance, mainly under the federal structure, by increasing the capacity of the state and local governments. The ministry has informed that inclusion will also be taken into account while conducting and managing the program.

program implementation structure 

A three-level program management structure has been arranged to achieve the proposed goal by spending the allocated budget for five years. As mentioned in the program document, there is a National Steering Committee chaired by the Federal Minister of Health, a Federal Coordinating Committee chaired by the Federal Affairs Secretary and a Provincial Steering Committee chaired by the Chief Minister.

In the committee chaired by the Federal Affairs Minister, the co-chairman will be the Chief Minister of the province . Members include the National Planning Commission, Ministry of Federal Affairs, Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Finance, Law, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Comptroller General's Office, Natural Resources and Finance Commission, Chief Secretaries of Provinces, Association of Municipalities, National Federation of Rural Villages and District Coordinating Committee. Accepted .

This time, the Municipal Association and the National Federation of Rural Villages are also included in the board of directors . From this, it is expected that it will be easy to determine the program according to the needs of the target group by identifying topics for capacity development at the provincial and local levels. 

The Federal Affairs and General Administration Secretary will be chaired by the Federalism Coordination Committee. The members of the committee include the Joint Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs, the Joint Secretaries of the Provincial Government, the representatives of the partner organizations, and the ministries and stakeholders in the National Steering Committee as members of the Coordination Committee.

It is arranged that the Chief Minister of the province will chair the provincial directorate committee. The members of the provincial committee include the chief secretary, all the secretaries of the provincial government, the provincial public service commission, the provincial policy and planning commission, the provincial auditor, the executive director of the provincial research and institutes, the municipal association and the rural municipality federation.

Staff will be mobilized through the provincial program support unit and the provincial research and development institute for technical support to implement the subjects mentioned in the program document prepared by the federal ministry. To further support the implementation of the program, it has been arranged that there will be a technical support committee in the union and the state. The committee in the