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Dr. Khim Lal Devkota presented a paper in "Inter-Province Chief Ministers' Conference"
Dr. Khim Lal Devkota, Chairperson, Federalism and Localization Center (FLC); former member, National Assembly presented the paper entitled “Interprovincial Coordination and Cooperation: International Practices, Nepal's Experience and the Way Forward” at "Inter-Province Chief Ministers' Conference" on 13 October 2026 in Biratnagar. Dr. Devkota's paper questions how Nepal's provinces can cooperate with one another on a regular and institutional basis, looking only at province-to-province coordination. It finds that the constitutional basis already exists in Articles 232 to 236, including the right of provinces to consult and coordinate (Article 233) and an Inter-Province Council (Article 234), but that practice is weak: the Council and most bodies under the 2077 Coordination and Inter-relation Act are largely inactive, and provinces have no standing forum of their own. Chief Ministers' meetings in Pokhara and Hetauda, bilateral meetings among Lumbini, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpashchim, and provincial finance ministers meeting in Hetauda and education ministers’ meeting in Birgunj have produced declarations but little follow-up, while the eight federations reviewed (the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Australia, India and South Africa) all run permanent forums, ministerial councils, binding agreements and joint projects.
The paper proposes cooperation in education and health, agriculture and transport, tourism, industry and trade, disaster management and environment, and IT and governance, through measures such as pooled procurement, regional tourism circuits and a joint early-warning network among provinces. To make this permanent, it recommends an Inter-Province Council of Chief Ministers with a secretariat and rotating chair, thematic ministerial councils, model provincial legislation, joint ventures and an Inter-Provincial Cooperation Fund, non-judicial dispute resolution, and a united provincial voice toward the federal government and the National Assembly. Its bottom line is that interprovincial cooperation must move from occasional, personality-driven meetings to a regular, transparent and results-oriented system.
The inter-province chief ministers' conference has been organized by the Koshi Province government. The Chief Ministers of Koshi Province, Hikmat Kumar Karki, Gandaki Province, Surendra Raj Pandey, Bagmati Province, Kiran Thapa Magar, Madhesh Province, Krishna Prasad Yadav, Lumbini Province, Chet Narayan Acharya, and Karnali Province, Mangal Bahadur Shahi jointly inaugurated the two-day (13-14 October 2026) conference today.
The conference is expected to make the federal governance system more effective and strengthen cooperation, coordination, and collaboration between provinces, contributing significantly to the effective implementation of federalism based on cooperation, coexistence, and coordination as envisioned by the constitution.
