Stakeholders and committee members put their heads together to discuss Public, Private, Cooperative-Partnership Bill of Province 3

Kathmandu, September 7: The Public, Private, Cooperative-Partnership (PPP) Bill, which is under discussion in the Finance and Development Committee of the Province 3 State Assembly, was recently reviewed at a meeting attended by committee members and stakeholders.

In the event supported by UNDP’s Parliament Support Project, Shanti Prasad Paudel, member of the State Assembly, said that public-private partnership was possible in the areas of agriculture, forestry and tourism. Stating that Nepali bureaucracy, society and parliamentarians themselves were not industry-friendly, he emphasized on the need to incorporate appropriate provisions and measures to address such concerns in the bill.

The issue of women’s representation in the formation of committees under the bill was broached by Rama Ale Magar, Chair of the Industry, Tourism and Environment Committee. She insisted that at least 33 percent representation of women, as provisioned by the Constitution, should be ensured. Magar also criticized the public tendering process, and emphasized on raising the quality of work rather than awarding contracts to the lowest bidders.

A more skeptical voice was raised by Deepak Prakash Baskota, former Minister of State for Home Affairs. “The private sector is always aligned towards making profits while the cooperative field is service-oriented,” Baskota said. He cautioned that there would be conflicts of interest if the private sector and the cooperatives were brought together. Instead, he suggested making separate legislations, such as a Public Cooperative Partnership (PCP) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) respectively.   

Meanwhile, Krishna Chandra Neupane, General Secretary of the Federation of District Coordination Committee, expressed concern about one of the provisions about the formation of a committee. “The formation procedure not only reflects a government-controlled mindset, it also raises doubts about how the committee can function by addressing the diverse interests of the private and cooperative sectors.” He also suggested ensuring the representation of federations in the committee, further emphasizing the establishment of a monitoring mechanism to track the processes and results of the implementation of the law.

Presentations were made by Purna Kadariya, former Secretary of the Nepal Government, and senior advocate, Surendra Kumar Mahato. Kadariya’s presentation was on the concept, practices and status of public, private and cooperative-partnerships in Nepal, while Mahato critically reviewed and offered suggestions on the concerned bill.

Concluding the event, the Chair of the Finance and Development Committee, Saresh Nepal, said. “If addressing the bill requires more time, the committee will make a special request to the Speaker,”

A total of 27 members of the Province 3 State Assembly, including chief whips and whips of  political parties, chairs of all thematic committees and ex-ministers of the Government of Nepal were present at the meeting. The event also saw participation from diverse spheres, including the private sector, cooperatives and civil society organizations.