Questions of Administrative System of Nepal

Here are the questions of Tribhhuvan University for the examinations of MPA II Year, Administrative System of Nepal, exam conducted on 2068 Bhadra 18.

Long Questions:  (Attempt any one question) -25 marks
1. Describe the administrative reform efforts in Nepal.



Short Questions: (Attempt any two questions)-12.5 marks each. 
1. Show the local administrative mechanism of Lichchhavi period. 

Not going to attend the exam

Due to the occupational off the job training, going to be held in PUNE of India from 29 July 2011, I am unable to attend the examinations of Masters of Public Administration Second Year. So sorry to myself that the coincident and uncooperative behaviors of my seniors lead me to collapse the dream of getting good division with probably a medal. But my unfortunate, is true now. Lets see if it is the decision of my organization, it may be  something important for my further career.

Contract Management (Material for Students of MPA)

Contract

Contract is defined as a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties (individuals, businesses, organizations, or government agencies) with mutual obligation to do or to refrain from doing specially one that is written and enforceable by law.  Contract is made on the writing or document containing such an agreement. Contract is legally binding agreement so there remains legal remedy by law for breach of contract. There are different practices in different countries about contract law. In Nepalese perspective, The Contract Law 2000 (2056 BS) and Public Procurement Act 2007 (2063 BS) are the major prevailing laws regulating contract.  According to section 2 sub-sections (a) of The Contract Act, 2000, 'Contract' is an agreement enforceable by law concluded between two or more parties for performing or not performing any work. Contract jurisdictions usually retain a high degree of freedom of contract, with parties largely at liberty to set their own terms. Broadly, contract is a form of economic ordering common throughout the world but different rules apply in jurisdictions.

Public Contract

Public contract is a means to deliver public services through market mechanism. Like that of definition of contract, public contract is also a legally enforceable agreement of a party to undertake/do the work or improvement as desired by a public authority, say government in broad sense. Such public work may be construction of public utilities, protection or facilitating the public lives and many more. Public contracts are largely governed by the general law of contracts, in Nepalese context, by Contract Act 2000 and Public Procurement Act 2007 are major. Public contract is little stricter, individuals and corporations are held to stricter standards in their dealings with the government than in their private dealings. This is one of the functions of public administration where identity and professionalization of officials are demonstrated. The Public Procurement Act 2007 of Nepal defines procurement contract as “Procurement Contract means a procurement contract entered into between a Public Entity and a supplier or construction entrepreneur or Consultant or service provider..."

Contract Management

Contract management is the management of contract that includes designing of terms and condition, negotiating the terms of condition, ensuring the compliance of terms and condition and documenting any changes occurred during its implementation or execution of the contract.

Hence, Contract management involves

• Designing contract
• Negotiating contract
• Ensuring compliance of the contract
• Documenting the changes occurred in the contract

Contract management theory is associated with Principle-Agent theory. Principle is government and agent is the party or person who does the work. There is always conflicting relation between principle and agent. Government wants to reduce the cost, maximize the output, wants right time, right place, right method, right quality and right quantity. On the other hand agents want to maximize the profit and market share. So, managing this conflicting situation is contract management. There must be some mechanism to address the conflicting aims/objectives of parties of contract.

This mechanism involves

1.   Market Information: - Government must have some market mechanism to collect information from the market. This can be done in two ways; first establishing an intelligence unit with the government unit another is to hire another agent for collecting information about the activities going on with the contract. The quality of the work, compliance of the contract rules are to be verified by the information collected.

2. The Selection of Agent: - Setting the criteria or the basis to select the agent what should be made earlier. The level of experience required, standard of economic background, public image, strength, etc should be determined before performing a contract. These things are basic to implement a contract successfully.

3. Monitoring the Performance of Agent: - There must be some mechanism to monitor the performance of the agent. This can be done by setting up a monitoring unit or committee with in the public office or by appointing a third party agent. Monitoring can be conducting on the regular basis or on the intermittent basis.

Contracting is the prime option for the government today to operate and spend public money when resourcing out/contracting out concepts are emerging even in developing country like Nepal because of new public Management concept and New Public Service concept. No doubt, there are some issues of corruption in contracting and procurement. Corruption in procurement affects the efficiency of public spending and donors' resources, creates waste and, ultimately, affects the quality of public life. Corruption in public contracting can take many forms, including bribery, deception (fraud) or simple abuse.

Required Government Policies for Effective Contract Management

1. Decision to contract: In the first phase, government has to decide when to make a contract. This involves deciding by government to purchase or sell goods or contact or services, or to outsource the management of a unit.  Government determines what it needs to buy or sell or privatize (technical requirements, specific characteristics) and how it will go about it (contracting method, agency responsible, etc).
2. Planned Direction: - Type of agent to be selected should be determined in advance with respect to the task to perform. Related experience, required standard of economic background etc must be determined. Rules that follow these principles also provide a good basis to prevent corruption.
3. Paying Structure: - "When to pay" and "how to pay" must be determined and mentioned in the contracting paper. Pay structure can be: - Fixed pay method; partly pay method, reimbursement method, etc.
4. Contract Process: - The process of contracting for different cost range must be determined. Other factors related to contract process involves type and mode of detriment, time and rang of advertisement, etc
5. Selection Basis: - Selection basis like sole selection or competition base selection should be determined to different circumstances.
6. Setting up the Monitoring, supervision and Evaluation process and standards.

The contracting needs minimum confidentiality and strictness. It is necessary to establish review systems, foster objective evaluation criteria and provide structures for it. It is also necessary to promote transparency and accountability, to facilitate oversight and citizen participation, and brings legitimacy to governmental decisions. Written procurement procedures should outline the whole process, using explicit criteria to award contracts. Public Procurement Act 2063 (2007) of Nepal exists to make legal provisions in order to make the procedures, processes and decisions relating to public procurement much more open, transparent, objective and reliable, to obtain the maximum returns of public expenditures in an economical and rational manner by promoting competition, fairness, honesty, accountability and reliability in public procurement processes.  

Resources Used:

1.     http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/contract

2.     http://law.freeadvice.com/general_practice/contract_law/contract_agreement.htm

3.     Class lecturer by Shree Krishna Shrestha, Public Administration Campus, TU, Jamal Kathmandu, June 16, 2011

4.     http://www.answers.com/topic/contract

5.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract

6.     http://www.u4.no/themes/procurement/procurementintro.cfm

7.    http://lawcommission.gov.np/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=2&func=startdown&id=130&lang=en 

The Whole of Government (Material for MPA Students)

"The Whole of Government" is a new concept following New Public Management, when some problems could not be addressed by existing practices. The whole of government relates to vertical and horizontal coordination to eliminate the situation in which different policies undermine each other. Hence, the concept can be summarized as:- Coordination+Integration=The Whole of Government. In Nepalese context, 'The High Level Mechanism' was formed under the chairmanship of then Prime Minister Giriza Prasad Koirala. 

Before going in depth with  TWG, it is pertinent to consider few factor that gave push to its emergence. 

1. Pillarization of Departments: New Public Management (NPM) emphasized on 'Tunnel Vision' lacked to address integrally different sectors' problems.   NPM focused on single department for single task, because of which there emerged a form of pillars in each organization. In a ministry, there are few departments and each work differently. In a government, there are few ministries and they work differently and separately. This trend is same for all state units. That created pillarization with lack of coordination. NPM got criticized because of departmentalization became infamous. 
2. Insecurity:- Different threats to mankind like natural disasters, conflict, racism, regionalism, and global network of terrorism significantly created insecurity. Individual organization or departments is unable to function addressing these threats. They needed coordination and group efforts. These two, mainly, reasons forced to the emergence of TWG

How to Implement TWG?

1. Structural Set Up:- The concept of TWG need a mechanism for coordination of all ministries and departments. A special body can be set up in the chairmanship of Prime Minister consisting all ministers and departmental heads. This can be separated by in two categories. One of political coordinating group consisting PM and Ministers and the another of Secretaries and departmental heads. Similarly, this can also be formed in sectoral set up. But the board or committee or the office must be authorized as coordinating mechanism of the state. 
2. Procedural Set Up:- Establishing networks for working in each office of the state is anther mechanism of implementing TWG. One must not do its work in isolation. Because in a state, an activity of one office of the state affects another. The shaping of nation is the responsibility of all units, not of one, and every single unit of the state is responsible for wrong dos of its counterpart. Work must be result based and the doer should be held responsible. 
3. Cultural Set Up:- Developing evolutionary cultural set up so that all the state mechanism would work in mutual understanding and coordination can be another method of implementing TWG. 

Challenges of TWG

1. Like the traditional approach, today in present days the same coordinating approach does not work . It needs comprehensive coordination appproach . It need horizontal coordination betwwn state agencies and it is very difficult and big task to coordinate horizontally in any environment.
2. Accountability:- The fixed and solid rules should be established determining who is accountable to whom. But there is always confusions that either minters are accountable to primeminister or to the party in vertical structure. Similarly, in it is highly difficult coordinating in horizontal structur
3. It is a long term  vision which needs enoughs patience, can't be established a good practice in a short span of time.

Efficiency In Public Enterprises

In any sphere  of activity, efficiency is defined as the rate of return or rate of result obtained to the means used. In simple term it is the ratio of  achievement to the means used. Similarly, it can be defined as a measure of time, cost and effort,  with comparison to productivity. Measuring of efficiency includes goods or services, time of processing, the functionality of the solution etc.  Laxmi Narain defines efficiency in public enterprises as "efficiency is the ability to produce the designed effect with minimum of effort, expenses or waste". It is important to decide that whether or not strict rules to adopt for measuring efficiency in public enterprises. Public enterprises have legitimate reasons to treat efficiency as secondary in some cases. 

Criteria of Efficiency Measurement

• Profit or loss:- Efficiency, very rigidly, can be measure through the analysis of annual profit and loss of the public enterprise. This approach is suitable in private sector and in some public companies. But when the legitimate reasons are there to consider profit as a secondary in public sector, this approach will only be rigid means.
• Contribution to National Economy:- Share of involvement in national economic activities may be another means to measure efficiency of public enterprises.  Contribution to the national economy through developmental activities or through tax can be measured. 
• External Auditing:- Independent and fair auditing is mostly used and widely accepted method of measuring efficiency in public enterprise. 
• Minimization of Wastage:- This refers to the minimum impact to the economy. If functioning of the enterprises do not add burden to other sector of the economy, efficiency may be low. But in contrary, when the enterprise do not put burden to the economy efficiency may be higher. 
• Social Responsibility:- Efficiency of public enterprise producing public and basic essential goods or service and the public enterprises set up for commercial purpose can't be measured with same indicators. 

Some other criteria are:-

• Productivity
• Financial ratio analysis

(Written with the purpose of helping MPA, TU students appearing Examinations) 

Functions of Government (Only from Administrative Perspective)

There are two philosophies to describe the functions of the government in modern time. They are as follows:-

1. Conventional View:- According to this view, government should protect the life, property of the people, should raise the revenue, should take care of defense and maintain internal peace and order. Here we do not discuss much about the conventional view.
2. Present/Modern View: 
1. To Fame the Rule of the Game:- Government has to set all the necessary legal provision to run the state (may be through legislative), and has to make regulating mechanism.

Other roles are:-

1. Develop Infrastructural
2. Provision of Collective Goods and Services
3. Establishment of Peace and Justice
4. Protection of Natural Resource
5. Accessibility of Service for all
6. Promotion of International Relation
7. Economic Growth with Sustainability

Why Government Intervention Necessary (From the point of view of Public Administration)

Primarily, Government has to intervene when market is inefficient and not competent. Generally when market is failure, direct government interventions are necessary. Otherwise, government should promote the public welfare and work to facilitate the market. But in reality, intervention by the government is felt due to the following reasons:-

1. Provision of Public Good: Public goods are those goods and services whose availability of one person does not affect to the availability to another. Each and every person in can use these services without respect of rich or poor, powerful or weaker. Such goods and service can't be provide by the private sector, due to its high cost or high risk or low return but these services are necessary for the daily life of the people. So, governed intervention is necessary. Such provisions include, road, means of transportation, drinking water, sanitation, electricity, education, health etc. Private sector is always profit oriented, so government is the only entity responsible to manages these activities ensuring easy accessibility of such public goods. Hence, in this point, government's intervention is required. 
2. Control Natural Monopoly:- Government is the only entity authorized to use natural resources for producing public goods and service. Marginal cost of new product unit (of road, electricity etc), goes on decreasing., But if the responsibility of such function is given to private sector, there is always chance to create natural monopoly. They can set the prise of each unit not based upon the marginal cost but on average price. So, to control the natural monopoly, government intervention is necessary. 
3. Externalities:-  Externalities occur when due to benefit of one party or person, another party or person may be affected. For example, when rich people use cars poor people are affected by its smoke without using car. Similarly in brick industry, cement industry or in any other area such externalities may arise. Hence, to regulate those externalities and to compensate the affected people, state interventions are necessary.
4. Markets' Imperfect Competition:- Private sector go for the aggressive promotional activities but that may lack sustainability. Imperfect competition in the market due to the influence of some people may create profit for short term and may hinder the benefit of general people as a whole. To remove such practices and to increase competition in the market government has to intervene. 
5. Equality and Equity:- All the citizens are liable to receive public goods and service equally, but in reality poor and weaker section are excluded from market. Government has to secure their place in the market by providing subsidies, etc. Government interventions are justified that it should make provision of state services to all the section of the society.
6. Accountability:- It is necessary to fix that who is accountable to make provision  of essential goods and service to the people. If the responsibility is left to the market, as stated above, weaker section is excluded. So the government is the only responsible to take accountability to make provision of such goods and services to the people.

These are the only few reasons of causes of government intervention. There are many factors which demand the government intervention.

Major Determinants for Establishing Roles and Functions of Government (From the point of view of Public Administration)

Roles of the government differ form country to country. If the state is developed and economically advance, role of the government may be less but the case may not be same for the least developed country. Following are the few determinants of the role role of the government. 

1. Forms of the Government:- Role and functions of the governments depend upon the political form of the government. The forms of the government may be Autocratic, Monarchical, Republic, Unitary or Federal, Democratic or Dictatorship etc. Roles and functions of the government are determined by the form of the government. For example, if the government is Federal roles will be less and on the contrary, if the government is Unitary, roles will be more. 
2. Roles of the State and non-State Actors:-  Until the 20th century, there were only two actors namely, state sector and private sectors. But now in new era, there are 3 actors, namely: State, Private and Civil Society. The role of one actor depends upon the execution of role of another actor. Role of one actor depends upon success and failure of another. In the past, around 1930s, role of the Public Enterprise increased tremendously, when private sector failed relatively. But now the equation has been changed with the involvement of the civil society. Role of the government is determined by the interrelationship persisting among private sector, civil sector and government. Non-state actor may provide goods and services where government can't reach or government can provide service where private sector is failed to cover and so on. 
3. Expectation of the People toward Government:- Role and Functions of the government also depend upon the expectation of the people. When the expectation is high, role of the government is high and vice versa. 
4. Form of Economic System:- Role of the government depends upon the type of economy that the country has adapted. Capitalistic economy requires less efforts from the government where as socialistic economy requires higher roles. 
5. Global Trend:- According to the global trend role of the government may be determined. Free trade, open market, no restriction determines fewer roles where as regularity global trend requires higher roles of the state. 
6. Nature of the Government Intervention:- During different time period different government intervention have been seen in the world. Role of the government in Lassiez-faire system and in welfare state system can't be same.