“The government is not functioning properly and the economy is also in danger, so the expensive federal system should be abolished.” It seems like an extract from a decade-old discussion on whether Nepal needs federalism or not. However, that is not the case here. The statement was made by Rita Majhi, a member of the Bagmati Provincial Assembly on 25th of May 2020 in the Bagmati Provincial Assembly. This portrays how we have still been unable to accept federalism as our reality and have a long journey ahead to the complete realization of federalism in Nepal.

On 29th June 2020, the National Assembly of Nepal passed Federal, State and Local Level (Coordination and Inter-relation) Bill, 2075 which deals with the mechanism of coordination between all levels of government and what would be their standing in terms of concurrent powers listed out in the Constitution. It indeed is a way forward from the state of lack of coordination and ambiguity among the levels of government regarding the extent of jurisdiction. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the present situation. COVID-19 pandemic has brought our attention to the infirmities of partially implemented federalism in the country and has cried out for the insufficiency of laws and mechanisms to institutionalize federalism.

Nepal introduced federalism from the 2nd amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2063, and defines the country as a federal democratic republican country with three tiers of government in the Constitution of Nepal. Since then we are in the process of implementation of federalism in the country. In the process, implementation has put forward various challenges and issues on our plate. For instance, writs have been filed by provinces against the federal level stating out its interference in rights under its jurisdiction which shows the existence of disputes between different tiers of governments. This cloudiness in the absence of federal laws and a robust chain has been put to spotlight even more during the pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic has put the various arenas of nascent federalism into exposure. It has shed light among people on how federal structure in a way is a boon to reach out to the nook and corner of the country. The federal structure is more local-centric. Local-level has played a vital role in the management of lockdown, relief distribution, health facilities, and quarantine. As per the Disaster Management representative of Tikapur, a city in south-western plains of Nepal, it has been easier to address the pandemic because of the existence of the Local Health Care and Sanitation Act. Mayor from Damak has put forward similar remarks in regards to municipal health policy as they used sound trucks, newspapers, and local radio to create awareness among people to take precautions. These local levels have created awareness using local means, distributed soap, and sanitizers as per the local necessity and distributed relief identifying the locals who are in need. We can imagine the need for contact tracing, identification of the needy as well as patients, and local monitoring mechanism amidst the virus. The existing integrated relation of local level to its people in the federalism imagines an ideal response to the manifestations of COVID-19, tailored to local situations. This general realization vividly paints the opportunities of federalism in Nepal to achieve its aim.

Pandemic has for sure highlighted the opportunities of federalism and has put forward a new light to the realization of federalism in the country. Despite that, we cannot turn away from a broader picture that draws our attention to even brightly sketched challenges that came forward with the still-early implementation of federalism. COVID-19 crisis management has lined up obstacles in terms of economic resource management, inconsistency in policy formation, and lack of coordination. It is the result of the absence of laws required for the implementation of federalism and a mechanism for coordination between levels of government. Furthermore, crisis management requires a properly functioning system. However, since we are still in the process of federalism, a chain of command that existed in the unitary system has already been broken down and we are yet to form an effective system in the federal structure.

The federal structure has not properly institutionalized in the country and it has come forward as a backdrop in crisis management amid pandemic. On the one hand, this deficit has left the government in confusion among themselves, and on the other hand, this has been taken as an excuse to escape from the responsibilities as well. So lack of resources, blame-game, and confusion among the levels of government are boulders that have been difficult to crush in yet to be completely implemented federalism leading to irreparable consequences in crisis handling. Quite a few incidents have taken place that substantiates this vagueness and its negative impacts in addressing the crisis. There has been a problem with the relief distribution mechanism in response to the pandemic as it has failed to incorporate pregnant women and this act has violated the fundamental right of sexual and reproductive health guaranteed in Article 38(2) of the Constitution of Nepal. Fundamental rights are being violated and the blame game is played against each other in terms of the faulty policy. These justifications are nothing more than the evidence of lack of coordination and its impacts are not limited to dogmatic aspects of federalism, we can see fundamental rights being compromised here. Furthermore, there has been inconsistent policymaking on relief distribution. Province-2 passed directives setting out the standard and monitoring mechanism for relief distribution targeting economically backward farmers on 31 March and resources also had been allocated on 1 April to local levels. On the same day, the federal level also issued directives which in result put the local level in a difficult spot. When an analysis is made on inconsistency in policy level, there is a difference in the process to identify the targeted group as per the federal and provincial levels. According to the federal level, the local level had to prepare a list of targeted people, and as per provincial level targeted people would be identified by a committee of all representatives of political parties, ward secretary, Nepal police, Nepal army, etc. This clearly shows the lack of coordination of federal and provincial levels in the policymaking. This inconsistency directly hampered the working mechanism of the local level and even more than that the targeted needy citizens had to face its toil. Amidst pandemic where every second count we cannot be irresponsible to search for justifications as normal situations. So being in the midst of implementation the deficit has not only been incompetent rather has gone beyond to impact the crisis management negatively.

This pandemic has indeed highlighted the opportunities of federalism in Nepal and even more than that it dawned on us the consequences of being in the midst of yet to be completely implemented federalism in the time of the pandemic. The country has functioned to this extent of utilizing local levels and resources, where local levels have imagined a self-sustaining system to certain proportions even when we are yet to see how fully-implemented federalism looks like. For instance, a local level like Pokhara Metropolitan City has imagined the quarantine with the separate room for women, on its discretion which shows positive aspects of federalism. In a way, federalism has also played a vital role and showed a lot of opportunities amidst this pandemic. On the other hand, loopholes and challenges portray a picture of chaos. However, if this partially implemented federalism is explored to its extent then we can see possibilities of a well-formed system to address every corner of the country.

Everything considered the picture is quite clear here. The ambiguity that lies in terms of law, mechanisms, and perception of people towards federalism has to be addressed as soon as possible. In a recently organized webinar by Youth in Federal Discourse on ‘Situation of Implementation of Federal System in Nepal’, Buddhi Karki, a lawyer specializing in constitutional law says, “There is constitution as a framework and laws can be made as required under it. So it is too early to give up on federalism.” Indeed, the laws that work on coordination and interrelationship between levels of governments have to be introduced and mechanisms should be formed accordingly. Furthermore psychological preparedness and federalism-oriented behavior should be developed from policy to understandings of representatives to citizens. This will certainly help to address the after-effects in economic, social, administrative, and every other sector in the post-pandemic era.