Local government should be able to fulfill its responsibility and accountability: PM Deuba

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that the local government should be able to fulfill its responsibility and accountability towards the people by completing the work on time as per the expectations and sentiments of the people despite limited resources.

Speaking at a program organized here today on the occasion of the 29th founding day of the Association of Nepal Municipalities, he said that the local government was the first school of democracy and the government of the people's backyard.

He said that the municipalities need to work to win the hearts and minds of the people as the people would form a holistic view of the government on the basis of the work done by the local government and the services provided. Prime Minister Deuba said, "After the restoration of multi-party democracy in the country after the people's movement of 2046 BS, this association established in 2050 BS as a representative body of all municipalities has been making significant contribution for the last three decades to empower municipalities and establish them as strong people's representative bodies."

He said that for the modernization and sustainable development of the country, it is necessary to make proper arrangements for well-organized town and city infrastructure services such as planned housing, beautiful roads, clean drinking water, sewerage, bridges, open green areas, sanitation etc. “Today most of the municipalities in the country are going through existing urbanization. On the one hand, this is detrimental to the natural beauty and originality of the city and on the other hand, our cities are becoming more and more unsafe and unhygienic living areas. Now, from the capital city of Kathmandu, all the big and small cities of the country need to move forward with the concept of sustainable development, ”said Prime Minister Deuba.

Stating that it is necessary to develop the infrastructure in a planned and integrated manner without allowing any construction work to take place in the city, he requested all the municipalities in the country to work to establish their municipality as a model municipality with their own unique identity and uniqueness.

He urged all the municipalities to work together to develop the city as a hub of clean and safe housing as well as economic activity without adversely affecting the fundamental aspects of the city.

Stating that the role played by this association in the implementation of federalism including local level constitutional system, local level restructuring is commendable, he said that is why local level federations are represented in various committees of the Government of Nepal.

He expressed the belief that the association would be equally active in the field of leadership development and production of skilled manpower by working more effectively as a business entity to strengthen and enable the local government to effectively address the development and service delivery demands of the people.