When and how did the status of Federal States change?
Answers
Nepal is a landlocked sovereign country located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the North by the People’s Republic of China, and to the South, East and West by the Republic of India. It occupies an area of 1,47,181 Sq. Km.
It is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of bio-diversity due to its unique geographical position and altitude variation. Our country ranges from 60m above the sea level to the highest point on earth Mt. Everest at 8,848 meters.
There are broadly two concepts of the system of government: Unitary & Federal. Nepal practiced the unitary system of government throughout its recorded history. However, it has been felt that it was not effective for the development and unity of the country. This was visibly expressed by the people during the People’s Movement-II in 2062/63 BS.
The course of history got changed in 2063 BS. People raised voices for a federal system of government. Nepal was then declared as the Democratic Federal Republic by the Interim Constitution-2063 BS. Now, we are in the process of making a ‘New Nepal’ on the federal concept.
See: about 7 provinces of Nepal
We elected a ‘Constituent Assembly’ to write a new constitution on this concept on 28th Chaitra 2064 BS. But it was failed due to various reasons in its mission and got dissolved after four years. The election for the Constituent Assembly-II was successfully conducted on 4th Marga 2070 BS. One hundred and twenty-two (122) political parties participated in this election, and 30 of them got representation in the Constituent Assembly-II. This Constituent Assembly has owned the fundamental concepts adopted by the Constituent Assembly-I and is working to promulgate a new constitution of Nepal. There is a necessity of a federal system in Nepal. The necessity of federal system in Nepal is clean and clear. The unitary system of government has been practiced in Nepal for a long time. Balance and proportional development through the concept of regional development have been a major effort under the unitary system. But we can’t ignore the importance of the federal system in Nepal. But, this effort has been confined only in the blue print. We will, of course, get advantages of federalism in Nepal. We must consider more about resource allocation in federalism in Nepal. Poverty, regional imbalance and unemployment still remained a major problem in the country. Therefore, federalism was raised as a political agenda against the unitary system after the success of people’s movement II, 2062/063. The second amendment of the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063 endorsed the concern of Nepalese people through different political parties to make Nepal a federal country. The first meeting of the first Constituent Assembly, which was held on 15th Jestha 2065 declared Nepal as “Federal Democratic Republic Country”.However, the Constituent Assembly (Jestha 2065-2069) could not settle the various issues regarding the determination of federal units in Nepal. So, the federal system is not yet implemented in Nepal.