Decade of action to achieve the SDGs has just started. It's time to think big for Nepal.

LAHAN, Feb 15: The consistent six-year-long struggle for federalism in Madhes materialized when the country adopted federal governance system two years ago. The people of Madhes who had long been chanting 'Ab ki bar, apan sarkar' (our government in place now) became overwhelmed. Be it the local representatives or the provincial cabinet, there were familiar faces everywhere. The appointment of Lal Babu Rauat as the chief minister of Province 2 elated one and all.

KAYHMANDU, Jan 11: Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada has said the overall economic indicators of the country were healthy and the economy was moving ahead on the right trajectory.

KATHMANDU, Jan 10: Province 3 assembly parliamentary party of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on Friday decided to name the province as Bagmati and fix Hetauda as its provincial capital.

KATHMANDU, Jan 4: Chairman of the ruling Nepal Communist Party Puspa Kamla Dahal has said Nepali People are yet to be familiar with the new federal set-up adopted following the overthrow of the unitary system.

Types of economic activities, degree of infrastructure development, inter-connection with the outer regions and way of living of people determine whether a place is rural or urban. Human civilization has developed through the rural mode in every part of the world. From the hunter-gatherers to discovery of fire and shift toward agriculture and technology, the basis of way of life of people has always been the activities they are involved in. Today, there has been a paradigm shift of way of life of people, from the rural to the urban. Urbanization has continued to ascend in a rapid way.

DHADING/RASUWA, 0ct 20: Himal Simkhada of Fulkharka village of Ganga Jamuna Rural Municipality does not frequent the district headquarters these days. Before the implementation of federalism, he used to frequent the headquarters for official work. And most often than not, the process of completing the work would be full of hassles and time-consuming.

KATHMANDU, Sept 16: Chairperson of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal has urged all the youth and students of his party to stand against anti-federal and anti-democratic republic elements as they are attempting to reinstate obsolete autocratic and unitary system.

KATHMANDU, Sept 9: Chairperson of ruling Nepal Communist Party Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that there was no alternative to strengthening the current governance system and serving people.

Issues have emerged regarding effective implementation of federalism. But there is a long way to go and these issues can be addressed in due course of time

Anyone critically following views and opinions peddled by media in Nepal, including social media and major news media, must have sensed this. The information landscape is flooded with half-information and misinformation. Emotion prevails. Reason has taken the backstage. It is easy during such times to lose foresight and context. The costs of decisions made during periods of half-information can be very high and irrevocable.

BAGLUNG, Aug 17:  Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Lalbabu Pundit said that the implementation of federalism in the country was successful.

Leaders whom we entrusted infant federalism have limited vision or skills as to how they will nurture the new system. They are running the show like they did under constitutional monarchy

KATHMANDU, July 4: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sarbendra Khanal has said that Nepal Police has already completed necessary preparations for the adjustment of police forces.

KATHMANDU, June 27: Rastriya Janata Party Nepal(RJP-N) on Thursday has expressed its dissatisfaction with the government accusing the latter of backtracking on its stance on the formation of administrative court in all provinces.

KATHMANDU, June 25: Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) has begun talks to form alliance with fringe parties in order to revive the identity movement which has been losing steam since the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015.

BARDIBAS, June 1: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gokul Prasad Banskota has said the new model of development would be started from State 2.

DHARAN, May 5: At a time when the parliament of Province 1 is struggling to fix its name and permanent capital, political and civil society leaders in Dharan started staging protests since Sunday demanding Dharan be declared the capital of the province.

KATHMANDU, March 23: Disappointing voters who expected rapid and meaningful development following the restructuring of the country, the provincial governments have spent only a minimum amount from the budget for the current fiscal year.

KATHMANDU, March 23: At a time when a section of Nepali Congress (NC) leaders are voicing in favor of a referendum on federalism and republic, Dr Shekhar Koirala, a key leader of the party, has said the country cannot backtrack from federalism and republic.

KATHMANDU, March 12: The Department of Drug Administration (DDA), the drug regulating body of the country, is in a sorry state. However, the government has done nothing to restructure and empower it according to the spirit of federalism.

A year after its formation, the government of Province 2 has not been able to address the concerns of the people in line with the spirit of federalism

JANAKPURDHAM, March 2 : Nepali Congress (NC) President has asserted the federalism now has become the need and reality of the country.

Centralization of all authority in Baluwatar continues unchallenged. Federalism is slowly being turned into a farce. Fundamental freedoms are being curtailed in insidious ways

KATHMANDU, Dec 19: The Inter-Province Council (IPC) has endorsed a timeline for the implementation of federalism, including the management of civil servants, giving full shape to the Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, and readying the necessary laws.

Nepal, in the past 15 years has seen political and social changes once people only imagined of. From unitary to federalism, from monarchy to republic, from a Hindu state to secular, from armed conflict to temporary peace, Nepal has progressed at the speed of rocket. Liking the change or not is a subject to one’s perception and can be debated.  But Nepal’s fast paced political progression has included and attracted minorities into politics, including the youth.

BIRATNAGAR, Nov 2: Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, has said that laws brought by provinces contravening with constitution would be scrapped automatically.

ROLPA, Oct 30: For some locals of Thabang is no more the Thabang they remember. One of the locals to feel so is Girish Pun. A former Maoist guerrilla, while sharing such feelings he was referring to the changes that have taken place in this place, which was considered as a Maoist forte during the insurgency. Since the end of war, other political parties have made inroads into this town and have introduced their ideologies. As such, people here now have diverse opinions and follow different ideology.

The fictional world of Prime Minister Asha of Singha Durbar TV series mirrors the shenanigans of Nepali politics. But despite the horrendous power struggles and political mudslinging on the screen, Asha understands that collaboration is the key for the successful implementation of federalism. Dubbed as a “roadmap for governance and leadership,” the TV series made a comeback with season two in July 2018 with support from USAID, United Nations in Nepal, and Nepali diaspora—this time with a storyline which reflects the challenges and opportunities of federalism.

UDAYAPUR, Oct 11: Fifteen months after federalism came into effect, most of the district-based offices in Udayapur have finally been closed. As there was confusion over which government is responsible for handling state matters, these offices were not removed for long.

The government of KP Sharma Oli needs to defeat CK Raut by strengthening federalism and inclusive nationalism

JANAKPURDHAM, Oct 6: As the federal government did not pay much attention into arranging required staffers, Province 2 government has forwarded the procedure for appointing staff in contract basis on its own.

KATHMANDU, Oct 4: Two major publications on federalism published by Governance Facility were launched amid a special function held in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

KATHMANDU, Sept 19: Experts have said that the lack of financial resources combined with the lack of capacity for service delivery at the local level units could become one of the biggest challenges for Nepal's federalism.

The new federal government hiked tax rates on several consumer goods through the budget. Similarly, provincial and local governments are also doing the same, overcharging citizens on even basic services like birth registration.

KATHMANDU, June 28: Nepali Congress lawmaker Gagan Thapa condemned the Prime Minister’s opinion on long fought federalism.

The budget is not in line with the spirit of federalism. It is not up to my expectation as the first budget of the federal government; it's rather similar to previous budgets.

Nepal’s tryst with federalism will be shaped by the corruption factor. Will federalism kill corruption or will corruption kill federalism?

KATHMANDU, April 19: The World Bank has estimated that the transition costs of restructuring the government in the new federal set up would be at 3-4 percent of GDP per year over the next four years.

Provincial and local governments should have a clear roadmap to advance and realize their prosperity agenda

BIRATNAGAR, March 29: With the implementation of federalism, the district's headquarters are losing their old charm while movement of people is gradually increasing in the new centers of the local units across the country.

KATHMANDU, March 24: The World Bank’s credit of US$ 200 million (Rs 20.6 billion) to Nepal for financing federalism in the country has landed into controversy.

LALITPUR, March 10: Experts, elected people's representatives and ex-civil service employees said that the implementation of federalism would take stride after the adjustment of employees.  It was said at an interaction programme 'Present Challenges and Potentials of Federalism Implementation' organized here today to mark the 27th establishment day of Ex Employees Service Council.

KATHMANDU, Mar 7: Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) on Tuesday held an interaction with cultural experts as it prepares to make amendment to National Cultural Policy 2010.

ROLPA, Feb 5: People in towns and villages have felt sheer changes in their day-to-day life following the implementation of federalism across the nation. Land prices have skyrocketed; tea shops, hotels, eateries have been doing brisk business. The change in governing order has touched almost everyone even in the remote areas like Rolpa.

KATHMANDU, Feb 6: With the successful completion of local, provincial and central level elections, Nepal has moved toward implementation of federal system.

KATHMANDU, Feb 5: All three tiers of government can manage the financial resources required to run their administrative set ups in the federal structure by taking key measures such as increasing the tax base, cutting recurrent expenditure and achieving high growth through investment - particularly private and public investment in infrastructures - politicians and economists have said.

HETAUDA, Feb 2: The first meeting of the provincial assembly of Province 3 held in Hetauda on Thursday has set February 10 as the date for the election of the assembly speaker.

KATHMANDU, Jan 5:  A row between the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the local bodies has surfaced in course of incorporating the education system in the new federal structure.

Federalism based largely on ethnic grounds is a necessity for the marginalized Madhesis and Janjatis to feel secure in the country