The Federal Government's half-yearly report card is out. According to the details released by the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister's Office and 28 other government agencies have achieved work progress of just 4.2 percent against their self-announced targets. The report card covers the period between mid-July and mid-January. Disappointingly, this fiscal year's "work progress" is even lower than the below-par performances of the two previous fiscal years: 8.5% during FY 2023/24 and 11.2% in FY 2022/23. The report card reflects the collective performances of high offices located in Kathmandu, the country's political, economic, and cultural capital. These include the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, 22 ministries, the National Planning Commission, the Investment Board Nepal, the National Vigilance Centre, the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, the National Statistics Office, and the Nepal Trust Office. These high offices are led and managed by the country's best experts in their respective fields and have all resources under their control.
All agencies report to the most powerful government with the strongest-ever Prime Minister at the helm, commanding a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives for the second time in seven years. Unlike his previous two-thirds majority tenure, the Prime Minister this time around enjoys the loyal backing of coalition bedfellows, the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament. The prime minister in-waiting, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba looks in no hurry and has repeatedly defended Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli whenever he came under fire from the opposition parties. For the last nine months or so since coming to power for the third time, Oli has controlled a super powerful and super secure government in the most ideal situation conceivable for a coalition government. Yet, the irony is that the performance of this super powerful, super secure federal government and its agencies is way below par, including that of the National Planning Commission. Let us not even touch upon the provincial governments and their agencies, or the local levels, as these are supposedly led or managed by the 'B-grades' and the 'C-grades.' Also, these are often scantily resourced and – in skills and competence terms – less equipped to handle the tasks before them.
The moot question is why the federal government, the federal Parliament, and all federal agencies perform the way they do year after year. The citizens have always given the benefit of the doubt to our political leadership whenever they tried to hide behind ridiculous excuses, such as a minority government, coalition government, or hung parliament. Why does the state fail to deliver goods and services to the people every time? This time around, we have a government defying all barriers, including established parliamentary traditions, at the helm, and even the most invincible executive fails to make a cut above the rest? Mr Prime Minister, it sure calls for serious soul-searching. Let's face it: institutional inertia seems to have set in at all levels. The best way forward is to identify the root causes behind the poor results and address them properly and effectively. That is the only way the government-in-waiting and all future governments will escape public shame and find themselves better prepared to perform.
Last but not least, kudos to the top performer – the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs for completing 100% of its work. Well done to the Ministry of Health and Population for your milestone completion rate at 81.8%; and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation for your 80.5% progress. All others must brace up and buckle down.