Technical Support to OPMCM on the finalization of Unbundling Report

The Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers (OPMCM) is currently in the process of finalizing and implementing the new unbundling report for the purpose of functional clarity of jurisdictions and functions of all three tiers of the government – federal, province and local level – as per the Schedules 5-9 of the Constitution of Nepal.

The meeting of the National Coordination Council (NCC) conducted on July 1, 2023 had formed a committee to recommend necessary reforms in the unbundling report. As a result, the OPMCM formed 5 thematic committees (economic, administrative, social, legal and infrastructure) to conduct studies and hold stakeholder consultations.

In order to provide technical support for the finalization of unbundling report and conduct necessary consultations, the Nepal Law Society (NLS) has worked with the OPMCM to provide expertise and facilitate consultations at federal, province and local level. With the NLS facilitation and at the initiative of OPMCM, a team of senior experts – including the area of federalism - Dr. Somlal Subedi, law expert- Mr. Dhanraj Gyawali, finance expert - Mr. Shishir Kumar Dhungana and infrastructure expert - Mr. Sushil Gyawali - was formed to provide technical support for the finalization of unbundling report.

Five thematic workshops (on the themes mentioned above) were organized with concerned stakeholders, line ministries and offices. Likewise, two workshops were subsequently organized with the OPMCM thematic teams.

The expert team studied about the functional, institutional, financial needs that would arise from the implementation of the unbundling report. Following the support from the expert team, the NLS team provided its report on unbundling to the OPMCM.

The OPMCM is planning to call the NCC meeting to endorse the updated unbundling report after which the Council of Ministers will need to approve it before it goes for the full implementation.