Questions Asked in 1st Paper of Joint Secretary (Internal Exam) Integrated 2079.08.28

Question Asked in Joint Secretary (Internal) Integrated First Paper 2079.08.28

1. The Constitution of Nepal has provided for a three-level government structure, namely, the Federal, State and the Local Level. The Local Level has become a relatively important government mechanism. It is also a high democratic example that the lowest level of government is empowered in a democratic governance system. After the constitution of Nepal, the first term of the first elected representative formed at the local level has been completed and the second term of the local government has been formed. Local governance is a governance system based on citizen participation. Citizens' direct involvement is considered necessary in local policy formulation and plan formulation, their implementation monitoring and evaluation, and the distribution of the results obtained from it. Citizen participation will help to strengthen the external control system in local government operations. Only the presence of directly elected representatives from the people does not mean full participation of citizens. Also, it is found that representatives elected on party basis take the side of their party's policies and the people who are in favor of the party, so that there is more possibility of favoritism in the work of development and service delivery. The experience of the last five years in Nepal has also shown this. A study done on the achievements of the last five years has indicated the following situation:-

'Works are not planned, prioritized and methodical. It was seen that actions are being taken with the view that work should be carried out, not with the view of sustainable improvement. There was a tendency to move towards ad-hocism in that actions should be taken in line with long-term thinking along with policy clarity. It seems that attention has not been reached regarding the field of work and economic conditions and the capacity of human resources. Equitable and frugal use of resources was not seen. It was observed that there is favoritism in accordance with party interests in the operation and development of the administrative apparatus. In the audit conducted by the Auditor General's office, it was found that there was a lot of corruption at the local level. In the annual report of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, it was found that the complaints of corruption are more at the local level. In this way, the internal control system at the local level is also weak. Citizen participation, which is considered the basis of the external control system, remained weak. It was found that the consumer committee, which is considered as a mechanism of citizen participation, is formed on a party basis and its main goal is to share the budget that has come to the village, which seems to make a mockery of the concept of citizen participation. Such an attack on the spirit of citizen participation seems to be a serious matter.'

- Identify the problem in the presented context and find the causes of the problem and present original and implementable suggestions for improvement. (25)

2. The need for public infrastructure development is indispensable for the sustainable development of the country. Infrastructure such as roads, bridges, airports, communication facilities, electricity, railways are important areas for measuring and looking at the country's development. When you think of a developed country, you think of black topped clean roads, trains and other means of transportation that provide transportation services to the public, and well-equipped airports. Developed countries have established a standard in the construction and use of such structures, while developing countries have their own national aspirations and plans for infrastructure development. However, everyone's goal is to provide convenient infrastructure services. In addition to utilizing all the possibilities available in the country, it is also necessary to follow the good practices prevalent in the international world. In this context, a public-private partnership policy has been introduced to utilize national and international capital and capacity.

For public-private partnership, "Public Infrastructure Construction, Operation and State Policy 2057" was implemented. The same has been done in the "Private Investment in Construction and Operation of Infrastructure Act, 2063". "Public-Private Partnership and Investment Act, 2075" has been implemented and an investment board has been formed under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to bring in private sector investment in large and nationally important projects. The Investment Board has been carrying out tasks such as developing potential projects, inviting investment proposals and negotiating and negotiating with potential investors. The board has also implemented project development agreements in some projects in the hydropower sector. Although policy, legal and structural provisions have been made to bring in investments in accordance with the concept of public-private partnership and to complete the project at the specified time and operate it in the agreed model, there are many problems and challenges in this area. Sufficient work has not been done in terms of preparing investable projects and presenting them to investors (Showcasing). Even though investment conferences are held from time to time, the lack of interest of investors in the presented projects, the lack of commitment even if it is seen, the inability to receive investment in line with the commitment even in the contracted projects, the fact that projects with project development agreements are not completed on time and the contract has to be terminated shows the weakness in our preparation. In the case of the Upper Karnali hydropower project, which has been under a project development agreement, even though the developer company did not continue the work for a long time, the contract was terminated and the previous company had to extend the deadline by two years. From this, it can be understood that there is a weakness in negotiations and agreements on our part.

When various countries are benefiting from the use of public-private partnership, which is considered as an international good practice, the expected use and achievement of this policy, institutional and procedural arrangements are not seen, but rather the implementation is obstructed and the project itself is stalled. In this context, review the policy system adopted by Nepal by doing additional testing (Adequacy Testing). Mentioning the issues to be considered when making project development agreements under public-private partnership, presenting the outline of the restructuring of the investment board and its justification, also present a roadmap for the necessary improvements in the project implementation side in line with this concept. (6+6+6+7= 25)

3. Financial irregularities and corruption cannot be controlled until the state of financial responsibility is strengthened. Financial control system is important for a country with an economy like Nepal. It is the responsibility of the government to fulfill the aspirations of the people by investing the limited resources in the areas with the highest return and completing the work in a timely manner. Looking at the data for a few years in Nepal, problems such as low capital expenditure, lack of spending capacity, maximum expenditure at the end of the financial year, and an increase in the amount spent during the audit have been seen. According to the report of the Auditor General's office, As of 2077.78, the total amount has exceeded 4 billion 83 billion. It is more than 1 trillion 15 billion only in 2077.78. It has been a challenge that the number of retained irregularities has been increasing every year from the audit and that there has not been much progress in the elimination of the retained irregularities. The Financial Procedures and Financial Responsibility Act, 2076 designates the Accountable Officer as the chief officer of the overall financial management with the responsibility of obtaining or making returns in line with the goals set by the budget and program. Every year the number of irregularities increases and the lack of progress in the trap has become a serious matter for us. It also indicates a lack of transparency, accountability and responsibility in the administration.

Focusing on the mentioned background, present your views on the following topics. (5+6+7+7= 25)

(a) Review of the existing policy and legal system to reduce fraud by maintaining financial discipline,

(b) Analyzing the reasons for increasing fraud every year,

(d) Role of Accounts Payable Officer for reducing malpractices, current situation and suggestions for improvement.

4. Civic engagement in development is a helpful tool of democratic governance. It is not a competitor of politics, but a complement to democratic sustainability. Citizen participation, involvement of civil society, participation of community organizations and non-governmental organizations has become an indispensable dimension of the governance system. Globally, citizen participation in governance is increasing. Its means have been adopted in various ways.

Citizen involvement is necessary for citizens to work with development agencies, structure of cooperation with the government, increase transparency of government agencies, support in policy making and make development effective. Citizens, community organizations, civil society and non-governmental organizations play an important role in promoting the business, culture and transparency of people's representatives, facilitating the demand side in development, strengthening the supply side and bringing communities that have not been mainstreamed into the mainstream. Therefore, there is a worldwide trend of increasing citizen involvement in the governance system by using various means of citizen participation in development. In Article 51 (c) of the Constitution of Nepal, there are provisions for community development by promoting and mobilizing the creativity of the community in social, cultural and service work, and in (f) of the same article, there are policies to increase local people's participation in the process of development. Similarly, the current 15th plan has the idea of "professional, accountable and transparent community and non-governmental organizations" of community and non-governmental organizations. The purpose of this plan is to mobilize and manage associations and organizations in the areas of national priority and make the use of resources from national and international non-governmental organizations accountable and transparent for the economic development of the country. In the Local Government Operation Act 2074, there is a provision that social and community organizations such as non-governmental associations, organizations, consumer committees, cooperative organizations, etc. must work in coordination with the local level.

Global practice, legal, policy and periodical plans have given a place to involvement, partnership and cooperation in the development of citizens, civil society, community organizations and non-governmental organizations in one way or another. It is found that such organizations are interested in public concerns, participate and cooperate in development, advocate for civil rights, increase access to service delivery, and contribute to the participatory development process by bringing backward classes and communities into the mainstream. In terms of performance, opaque, political taste, politicization, extremism and dutiful right-oriented thinking and behavior are seen. The government is also thinking of control in addition to facilitation. Give practical answers to the following questions from the perspective of such organizations and citizens as partners in development. (6+7+6+6 = 25 Marks)

a) Under the federal system of governance, it is appropriate and practical to involve Nepali citizens, civil society, community organizations and non-governmental organizations in what kind of activities? Explain.

b) What are the problems in making community organizations and non-governmental organizations transparent, fair and productive? Identify and give suitable suggestions to solve such problems.

c) What legal and policy reforms should be made to engage civil society, community organizations and non-governmental organizations in a methodical, non-political and commercial capacity to make them profitable?

d) How can civil society, non-governmental organizations and community organizations contribute to the strengthening of federalism and democracy by increasing civic awareness, social harmony, and building an egalitarian society? Clarify.