Sudurpaschim has become the first by getting the highest score of 51.6 percent in the performance evaluation of the provincial government. Madhesh is lagging behind with only 30 percent marks. But since the assessment was based on the performance of the last financial year and new governments came in all provinces, political instability has become a partner of weakness.

In the assessment done by the National Natural Resources and Finance Commission, Koshi has come second, Bagmati third, Karnali fourth, Gandaki fifth and Lumbini sixth. Koshi scored 50.9, Bagmati 45.6, Karnali 41.6, Gandaki 40.8 and Lumbini 35.9 percent.

For the purpose of financial equalization grants provided by the federal government to the states and local levels, the commission has evaluated the performance of the states based on 11 different indicators. The performance of the province is evaluated on the basis of indicators including audit, balance, capital budget allocation and expenditure, revenue collection target and achievement, equalization grant to be provided to the local level, distribution on time, income-expenditure account submitted to the Ministry of Finance on the set date, annual review of the state of budget implementation. 

Sudurpaschim, which was ranked fifth in 079/80, became the first among all the seven provinces by getting 51.6 points in the performance evaluation of 080/81. Jhalakram Adhikari, secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Far West, says that although the performance did not get very good marks, the results show the good governance of the province. "For the next financial year, the share of the equalization grant given by the federal government will increase a bit," says the secretary officer.

Koshy, who came second in last year's performance with 50.9 points, scored 30.89 points in 079/80 performance. In 3 out of 11 indicators, Koshi government's assessment is zero. 080/081 Koshi Sarkari Air Quality Index is not visible. The target set for community based forest management does not seem to have been met in the current financial year. Conditional grants have not been provided to the local level in accordance with the provincial law and by applying the concept set by the commission. 

Madhesh, which scored the lowest 30 points, has spent 24 billion 55 million 71 million 94 thousand 372 rupees out of 44 billion 11 million 46 million 32 thousand rupees allocated in 080/081. The projected target of revenue collection was not fixed. According to the commission report, the actual revenue collection of both the years 080/81 and 079/80 has not been mentioned. 

Although the Madhesh government provided financial equalization grants to the local level in 081/82 within March, it has not submitted the details with the income-expenditure projection data to the Ministry of Finance within December 081. 

It is mentioned in the commission's report that the annual review of the implementation of the budget for 080/81 was not made public within November 081. When Madhesh conducted an audit of 47 billion 95 crores in 079/80, 1 billion 85 crores of rupees are unaccounted for. 

Vice President of Policy and Planning Commission of Madhesh Dr. Sohan Prasad Sah said that although the evaluation of the Finance Commission did not cause problems, all the indicators and documents of the current financial year have been corrected. Chief Minister of Madhesh, Satish Singh, says that work is being done to improve the results in the coming year as it was done before he came to the leadership of the government. "This is the performance of our team before coming to the state government, we are working hard during my tenure, we are working to get good marks from Madhesh in the performance evaluation from next year," he says. 

Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Ramkumar Mahato informed that last week there was a discussion between the Ministry of Finance of Madhesh and the Policy and Planning Commission after the performance was seen to be lagging behind. He said that the discussion focused on the Chukeka index. "After the discussion, a letter has been sent to the National Natural Resources and Finance Commission with suggestions for the benefit of the Madhesh government," said Secretary Mahato. 

Bagmati, which is in the third place with 45.6 points, is showing poor performance due to not being able to collect revenue. According to the Bagmati Provincial Treasury and Accounts Control Office, the strongest source of revenue for the provincial government is transport, real estate, and the decline in revenue collection due to the recession. According to Hari Prasad Upadhyay, head of the

office, the total score was weak as the income and expenditure were not as per the government's target. "This happened because the capital expenditure and revenue collection of Bagmati were not as per target," he said. He said that due to the lack of staff in the ministry and provincial offices in Hetaunda, the performance was somewhat weak.

Bagmati Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama said that the current situation was created when the province was affected by political instability. "Due to government change and staff transfer, the province has not been able to work properly, so we are seen as weak," he said. He says that it is difficult to work when the chief secretary of the province and the secretary of the ministry are constantly being transferred. "The chief secretary of the province has changed three people in six months, how can work be seen in such a situation?," he says. 

Chief Minister Lama says that he has instructed the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning to study the necessary increase in development expenditure and implement it immediately. "The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development has about 37 percent of the budget, the government is preparing to advance the tender process for all the allocated plans, the budget expenditure will be slightly higher by the end of the year," he says. 

Gandaki government's performance evaluation has only got 40.8 points due to not providing conditional grants to the local level by applying the basis set by the commission according to the state law. Gandaki, ranked fifth, did not send the details of total allocated amount, total expenditure amount, total capital allocation amount, total capital expenditure amount to the Ministry of Finance in 080/81. Gandaki could not get advanced marks because he did not send the projected target of revenue collection and the details of the actual revenue collection amount to the Ministry of Finance.  

In the current financial year, Gandaki has not prepared the state level air quality index, the target and progress set for community-based forest management. Gandaki has received points by entering the performance indicator details in the electronic online portal prepared by the commission within the specified period. 

Deputy Chairman of the State Policy and Planning Commission Krishnachandra Devkota Gandaki says that the conditional grant will be reduced if the scores are low. "We are in the process of understanding the basis and indicators of performance evaluation, we will take initiatives to improve in the coming days," he said.

The distribution of federal revenue received by the province may be determined based on the evaluation of the commission. If the score is low, the province may receive less financial resources than expected. The ability of the provincial government to implement the development plan is questioned, so the federal government may have to cut the development budget. When determining the priority of grants or concessional loans provided by the Union or international donor agencies, the Commission's evaluation can be considered as the basis. 

The Lumbini government, which was at the bottom with 16 points in 079/80, rose to the sixth position with 35.9 points in the performance of 080/081. Deepak Gyawali, Head of Finance and Accounting Control Office of Lumbini Province, says that the details of 4 indicators of the Finance Commission were not explained, 3 were wrongly filled and the rest were not able to get full weightage.

'The financial equalization grant given by the federal government will be cut in 082/83 after the performance evaluation of the provincial government is weak,' says Gyawali, 'The performance was weak due to the previous revenue collection, unreasonable spending, capital expenditure as per the budget and the failure to distribute the vehicle tax revenue on time, but due to improvement, Gandaki has risen to sixth place this year.' 

The federal government has been giving an annual equalization subsidy of about 8 billion for Lumbini province. 2 billion 19 million subsidy was cut due to poor performance last year. Gyawali said that although 4 billion equalization grants were provided in the two quarters of the current year, the third quarter was reduced to 25 percent and only 12.25 percent was sent. 

"Last year, 26 percent of the equalization grant was cut," he said, "this year, it seems that it may increase to around 30 percent."

Chief Minister Chetnarayan Acharya reviews the financial situation and says that he has instructed to work in a way that the next year will be the first in terms of performance. "Since the beginning, we have been careful in the work of updating all the indicators," he said.

Karnali has improved its position this year in the performance evaluation of the state government. Karnali, which was sixth last year with 25.9 points, has become fourth with 41.6 points this year. "Even though the resources and budget are low, our situation is gradually improving in terms of financial discipline," Economic Affairs 

and secretary of the Ministry of Planning Ravilal Sharma says, "The amount of the loan has gradually decreased, we have given the payment on time, which has improved the results." 

Based on this result, he says that it is certain that the federal subsidy that Karnali will receive in the next financial year will increase. According to Finance Commission Information Officer Rajeshwari Khatri Sapkota, Karnali results are gradually improving. Karnali Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Rajeev Vikram Shah says that based on the commission's assessment, revenue sharing, financial equalization and conditional grants are being received from the federal government. "Performance has gradually improved, the subsidy received from the federal government will also increase, which we believe will help for the systematic development of Karnali," he says. Mekharaj Joshi, official of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Far West, says that the local level and state governments receive revenue sharing and equalization grants from the Union Government on the basis of performance, formula basis and minimum equalization grants. According to him, for getting the first place in the performance of 079/80, Koshi received a subsidy of 442.3 million, while Sudur Paschim, which was in the fifth position, received only 30.18 million. According to him, in the budget of the next financial year, Sudurpaschim will receive the highest amount of subsidy based on performance evaluation. "We have submitted details of the activities carried out by the province as requested by the commission," Officer Joshi said. "Sudorpaschim, which was ranked fifth last year in the performance evaluation, is proud to be the first this year, this result has encouraged us to do better," he says. 

According to Juddha Bahadur Gurung, a member of the Finance Commission, a 100 percent number is obtained when all the indicators are fulfilled. "Evaluation is done based on the indicators completed by the province," he says, "those who do not complete the indicators have received less marks." 

According to Gurung, all the provinces have not contributed significantly to the air quality indicators. According to him, this indicator is evaluated on the basis of programs such as fire fighting. He says that it was evaluated to create a sense of competition between the provinces. "We believe that provinces can become prosperous through internal competition," says Gurung.