Challenging the old and channelling the new

Despite resistance to devolution, decentralisation has enhanced public service delivery.

Nepali citizens remain largely dissatisfied with the government’s lacklustre public service delivery in both the political and bureaucratic domains. Governance failings include political ineptitude, poor policy design and implementation, rent-seeking bureaucracy, ineffective regulatory mechanisms, weak institutions, a culture of impunity and accountability gaps. Despite various government efforts such as the introduction of automation and digitalisation in certain sectors, these shortcomings have persisted. The problem appears to be the inability of these interventions to penetrate the structural and mindset resistance of the bureaucracy and politics. In surmounting these challenges sustainably, interventions at the local level, with higher levels of younger leadership, citizen accountability and experimentation appetite, is a colossal opportunity for results-based governance reforms.