KATHMANDU, July 10: Six months after the start of the second term of the Gandaki Province Assembly, the way for the formation of the provincial thematic committees has been opened. The preparation for the formation of the thematic committee has progressed with the passing of the Provincial Assembly Rules.

Due to the delay in the formation of the thematic committees, which are considered as 'mini parliament', the bill brought by the government was passed by the provincial assembly meeting without debate and discussion. The members of the provincial assembly were not able to participate in the law-making exercise.

Prem Subedi, spokesperson for the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, said that after the approval of the Provincial Assembly Rules by the Speaker, the work of the Assembly will proceed accordingly.  

"The Speaker determines the number of members of the committees, and asks them to represent their party in the committee," said Subedi, the spokesperson. He further said that the formation of the thematic committees was being pushed back as the work of the Province Assembly Rules Drafting Committee was affected by the recent political events including the change of government.

An 11-member committee was formed under the chairmanship of Bindu Kumar Thapa, a senior member of the provincial assembly, to draft the regulations. It was passed by the provincial assembly meeting last Friday.

With the passing of the regulations, the parties represented in the provincial assembly are also busy with the homework of forming the thematic committees. Kumar Rijal, law officer of the Province Assembly Secretariat, said that there are four thematic committees in the regulations. He said that the names and division of work of the existing thematic committees have been changed.

Law Officer Rijal said that according to the new provisions, the Provincial Assembly will have a Finance and Development Committee, a Public Accounts Committee, a Provincial Affairs and Law Committee and a Social Development and Agriculture Committee. According to him, the erstwhile Legislative Committee has been removed, while the Social Development and Agriculture Committee has been included.

According to the rules of the Provincial Assembly of the year 2074, in the previous term of the Provincial Assembly, there were four thematic committees namely Legislation, Public Accounts, Finance and Development and Provincial Affairs.

The Provincial Assembly Secretariat has said that it is going to form the thematic committees to be functional and effective. Earlier, the members of the provincial assembly had been demanding that the process of forming the committees should be carried forward quickly.

 
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