KATHMANDU, July 6: Chairman of the Local Level Restructuring Commission Balananda Paudel reiterated that the constitution itself has set the deadline of the commission until mid-March and said that the commission will resist unnecessary political pressure during the course of finalizing the structure of the local governmen
"If you ask us to reach every ward and village before finalizing the structure of the local bodies, it may take 4 to 5 years to complete our task. On the other hand, if you pressurize us to complete at earliest, we can complete the restructuring in 10 days sitting on our tables. Both the ways will not be acceptable to the public. If such scenario comes in front of us, we all will quit the commission," said Paudel, addressing the concerns raised by the lawmakers of the State Affairs Committee of the Parliament.
He said that the commission has been speeding up the task of finalizing the number, demarcation and names of the local bodies despite being assigned an additional task to make recommendations for improvement on existing laws, deciding the jurisdiction, responsibility and resources in relation to the three-tier governance as well as to decide the framework of service delivery at local level.
"We have eight specific tasks. The constitution has clearly set a deadline of mid-March for us," said Paudel.
He also urged lawmakers not to forget that the formation of the commission and the task of setting its terms of references (ToR) were done six months after the promulgation of constitution.
When lawmakers expressed their doubts that the commission might come under the influence of political party and individuals, Paudel said that the commission will carefully listen to every technical and practical suggestion but resist political pressure.
"There will be no political gerrymandering while restructuring the local bodies. I assure all the lawmakers about it," said Paudel.
Earlier, CPN-UML lawmakers Bhim Prasad Acharya and Yuvaraj Gyawali had asked the commission to tell clearly to the government when it can submit its final report.
Nepali Congress lawmaker Purna Bahadur Khadka urged the commission to take as much time it needs to complete its task forgetting the local body election announced by the government.
On the other hand, UML lawmaker Yagyaraj Sunwar warned the commission not to delay submitting the report.
Most of the lawmakers in the committee had suggested the commission to complete the restructuring task in a way that sets up local level service delivery centers at more convenient places than the existing service centers.
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