Cim Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop Dailekh

Government of Nepal Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development

CIM ASSESSMENT, ANNUAL REVIEW AND MUNICIPAL ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP DAILEKH

Rural Access Programme (RAP) Phase 3

September 2017

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

CONTENTS

Acronyms And Abbreviations ...... ii Executive Summary ...... 1 Part I: CIM assessment and Annual Review ...... 2 1. Background ...... 2 2. Objectives of Workshop ...... 3 3. CIM Assessment ...... 3 4. Annual Review ...... 4 Part II: Municipal Engagement Workshop ...... 6 1. Background & Context ...... 6 2. Objective of the Field Mission ...... 6 3. Expected Outcome of the Mission ...... 6 4. Summary of Activities ...... 7 4.1 Pre-workshop activities ...... 7 4.2 Workshop Proceedings ...... 7 4.2.1 Opening Session ...... 7 4.2.2 Discussion Session ...... 7 5. Closing Session ...... 10 5.1 Key outputs of the workshop ...... 10 6. Workshop Expenditure ...... 11

APPENDIX

Appendix 1 List of CIM Review Meeting Participants Appendix 2 Field Itinerary Appendix 3 Annual Review and Engagement Workshop & CIM Appendix 4 Workshop Schedule Appendix 5 List of Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop Participants Appendix 6 Photographs

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AME/DC Asset Management Engineer/District Coordinator AR Annual Review ASP Annual Support Plan CBID Capacity Building and Institutional Development CDM CONNECT District Manager CIM Continual Improvement Matrix CPD Continuing Professional Development DCC District Coordination Committee DFID Department for International Development (UK Aid) DLI Disbursement Linked Indicator DOLIDAR Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads DRCN District Road Core Network DTA District Technical Assistance DTMP District Transport Master Plan DTO District Technical Office EW Engagement Workshop GE Graduate Engineer GON Government of Nepal HQ Headquarters IMCW International Management Consulting Worldwide LL Units Local Level Units (Municipality, Rural Municipality) LRN Local Road Network Mun. Municipality MCPM Minimum Conditions Performance Measurement M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MOFALD Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development RAP Rural Access Programme RM Rural Municipality RMG Road Maintenance Group RTI Rural Transport Infrastructure SWAp Sector Wide Approach TA Technical Assistance

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Rural Access Programme – Phase 3 (RAP3) is a 6-year DFID funded project covering 14 Districts in Nepal. It aims to improve people’s incomes and resilience through employment, sustainable access to markets and improved access to economic opportunities. Expected outputs include improved and sustainable access due to climate resilient rural transport infrastructure, maintenance, upgrading and road/trail-bridge construction. Out of the 14 Programme districts, RAP in four new districts undertakes construction of 97.5 km of seven new roads whilst the other 10 districts focusses only on the maintenance of prioritised LRNs of around 2,000 km along with CBID in all districts and economic development activities in some selected core districts. RAP conducts review of programme activities carried out in the district every year to share progress and achievements of the Programme with the relevant district stakeholders. This year RAP conducted district annual review and municipal engagement workshop in Sept 2017 in all the programme districts. District CIM assessment was organised prior to the annual review and the municipal engagement workshop. The main objectives of the engagement workshop were to identify the local development issues with a particular focus on LRN sub-sector and then to look out possible areas where RAP3 can provide support to the local governments in future under the new federal structure. The report summarises CIM assessment and score, annual review of progress and municipal engagement. CIM Review - A meeting, chaired by Mr. Prem Bahadur Thapa, Chairperson of DCC Dailekh was held on 14th Sept 2017 for CIM evaluation of LRN asset management in DCC meeting hall in Dailekh. Vice chair-person of DCC, LDO of DCC, DTO Engineers, DCC planning officer and other officials from DCC and DTO along with RAP DTA and TMO representatives were the attendees of the meeting. Following in-depth discussions on each sub-themes of CIM assigning unanimous scores against each of them, the meeting concluded with a total average score of 8.25, which is 0.55 point more than the last year’s score. Annual Review - The annual review and engagement workshop was organised on 15th September 2017. Although annual review and municipal engagement workshop were lumped into a single event annual review and engagement workshop were separated in two separate events, the first session was dedicated for annual review programme and the second one was allocated for the municipal engagement workshop. The annual review session was chaired by Chairperson of DCC Mr. Prem Bahadur Thapa, Two Member of Parliament (MPs), Chief District Officer (CDO) represented as the chief and special guest, LDO and Deputy Chief of DCC represented as the guest in the workshop. DCC programme officer Mr. Padam Sapkota facilitated the workshop as MC and opened the session with welcome speech followed by some highlights on objective of the workshop. RTL Mr. Rajendra Kumar Shrestha gave presentation on overall programme activities carried out by RAP 3 in Dailekh during last FY 2073/74. Few questions and queries were raised by the participants, which were clarified by DTA and TMO representatives. Major concerns were related to the improvement/upgrading of RAP constructed roads. MP Mr. Amar Bahadur Thapa appreciated the RAP contribution to the district in LRN sector but viewed that the need of upgrading (at least gravel) RAP constructed roads for sustainability. He also highlighted to support for constructing Dailekh-Mahabu-Jumla road via Kalikot. This road will be 67 km shorter than existing Surkhet-Jumla Karnali highway benefitting people of Dailekh, Kalikot and Jumla. Another MP Mr. Laxmi Prasad Pokhrel also appreciated RAP works in Dailekh and put his view for RAP support on Dailekh-Mahabu-Jumla road construction on the top of rural road maintenance. He wished the betterment of RAP’s programme activities and

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh continues RAP in Dailekh in further phases. CDO Mr. Bishwo Raj Neupane appreciated the efforts of RAP3 for making such common platform to identify issues and possible solutions with rigorous discussion among the key representatives of each local level bodies. He also highlighted that the content of discussion matters under six thematic areas are very common to all and assured to support from his office in the coordination part with local bodies as deemed necessary. The DCC Chief, Mr. Prem Bahadur Thapa from the chair in his concluding remarks appreciated RAP’s contribution on introducing maintenance system of DRCN in the district. He also highlighted on sustainability issue of RAP constructed three major backbone roads of the district as well as other district roads. He suggested that drain construction, slope protection and water management is the important works for the sustainability of roads, which has seen positive impact from recent works carried out by RAP and Department of Roads. Regarding CONNECT activities, he suggested to explore more potential areas in Dailekh for dairy development and other associated infrastructures for economic development, business enterprises in agriculture as well as other sectors as found feasible. LRN lying within each municipality/rural municipality should be handover to local level units for maintenance and road lying within two or more system municipality/rural municipality shall be implemented under DCC coordination. Municipal Engagement Workshop - The engagement session ended up identifying major issues and hindrances of local development through discussions and subsequent presentations. Unclear LRN policies in the changed context, weak organisational structures that lack competent human resource and office logistics/facilities, haphazard planning and implementation approach, inadequate funding, need for greater roles of local level units etc. were the major hindrances/shortcomings identified during the group discussions.

PART I: CIM ASSESSMENT AND ANNUAL REVIEW

1. BACKGROUND

Dailekh is one of the RAP3 core districts for maintenance work. DCC Dailekh has shown commitment to implement the plans of RAP3 by giving priority on DRCN maintenance as per the approved ARAMP. All together 34 numbers of DRCN roads are in the district out of which RAP 3 is monitoring RMG’s working in 16 road corridors. Continual Improvement Matrix was scheduled on 14th September, 07:00 - 09:30 hours in DCC meeting hall. In that session DDC chairperson, Vice-chairperson, LDO, DTO-Acting chief, DoLIDAR Engineer, DCC officers, DTO-Engineer/Sub-Engineer, and TMO/DTA team were the assessors. Since DCC Chairperson and Vice-chairperson was newly elected personnel, prior to go in formal session, DC Laxman Bhakta Dahi Shrestha from TMO briefed about the background history of CIM process initiated by RAP in the district. CIM (Continual Improvement Matrix) is a scoring tool that helps analyse the performance of the district in compared to the previous year. Different categories like planning, finance, technical and social are categorised in the matrix and different levels of markings with the explanations for each marks are provided. The key GoN staffs like DTO, LDO, Planning Officer, Account Officer, DTO Engineer/s discuss and give score in the various fields and through the matrix tool, the overall performance is calculated. The annual progress review workshop of RAP3 activities of FY 2073/074 was organised in Narayan Municipality’s conference hall for DCC technical members, R/Municipality Representatives, other

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh stakeholders and line agencies on 14th September 2017. Two MPs, CDO are the chief and special guests, DoLIDAR Engineer Mr. Binod Shakya as government counterpart representative. 2. OBJECTIVES OF WORKSHOP

To review the performance and progress made during the past year (FY 073/74). To review the CIM scores, identify areas of poorer performance and solutions for ASP. To share implementation modality. To clarify concept and importance of Continual Improvement Matrix. To get an overview of and feedbacks from the stakeholders and quantify the performance of the programme in the district. To update and explain the work progress of last fiscal year and highlight this years’ programme.. To discuss the future exist plan of RAP in the district. To establish good will and cooperation at local level To discuss the issues faced by the programme in implementation and identify solutions. To provide a platform for relevant stakeholders to come together and discuss common issues and form common understanding. Get feedback from RM/M, stakeholder/beneficiaries and incorporate fruitful suggestions on next year’s planning. 3. CIM ASSESSMENT

Continual Improvement Matrix (CIM) assessment was started in DCC meeting hall at 07:00 hours on 14th September 2017 that continued till 09:30 hrs. DCC Chairperson, Vice-chairperson, LDO, Acting DTO chief, DCC Programme officer, Account officer, DTO engineer/sub-engineer and DCC Planning/Account section staffs and RAP3 DC and DTA were presented in the event. DC from RAP3 TMO explained the objectives of the CIM assessment meeting. He also briefly explained the emergence and initiation of CIM by RAP in its working districts since October 2011 under RTI Sector Maintenance Pilot Programme and CIM assessment is done each year. Following the brief on the purpose of the assessment meeting, all participants agreed to review the last year’s performance of district on LRN asset management sector against the set criteria of CIM. The assessment meeting was chaired by DCC chairperson, LDO and each assessor provided marks out of 10 under Planning, Technical, Financial and Institutional categories based on DCC experience on the FY 2073-74. CIM scores of last 6 years from October 2011 to July 2016 were presented among the assessors. The district CIM score is increasing on year-on-year basis. CIM scores for the 7 years are presented in the following figure. Figure 1: CIM Scores

Key to CIM Score level Engagement - 2 Basic – 4 Intermediate - 6 Advanced - 8 SWAp Complaint - 10

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

CIM SCORES - DAILEKH IN 7 YEARS

10.0 8.25 7.6 7.7 10) 8.0 7.2 - 6.4 5.6 6.0 4.0 4.0 2.0

CIM Score (0 Score CIM - Oct Aug Aug Aug Jul 2015 Jul 2016 Sept 2011 2012 2013 2014 2017 Year

The programme ended with the announcement of overall average score of 8.25. The CIM meeting minutes have been presented in Appendix-1. 4. ANNUAL REVIEW

The review programme was facilitated by the Programme Officer of DCC Dailekh and run under the chairmanship of DCC Chairperson Mr Prem Bahadur Thapa, MPs, CDO, Deputy Chief of DCC Dailekh were the chief guest and special guest and guests in the review workshop. All the Mayor/Chief, Deputy Mayor/Deputy Chief and Executive Officer from newly formed Municipalities/Rural Municipalities, DCC members. Line agency Chief/representatives, DCC Programme Officer, DTO chief (Acting), DCC/DTO officials, RMG representatives and media persons and RAP 3 staffs participated in the annual review workshop held at Narayan Municipality conference hall in Dailekh on 15th September 2017. The programme was started with a short welcome by Mr. Padam Sapkota, DCC Programme Officer followed by the workshop objectives. Following welcome of participants and brief objectives of the workshop, RTL Mr. Rajendra Kumar Shrestha delivered presentation on annual programme activities of FY 2073/74 and progress against them. In his presentation he also highlighted on activities undertaken and progress of annual support plan and CONNECT DM Mr Kushal Hamal presented CONNECT activities undertaken and ongoing in the district. After all presentations, the floor was opened for discussions. During the feedback session, the queries were cleared by RTL. Feedback and suggestions from the participants were positively acknowledged by RAP3 and it was also assured that RAP will accommodate their feedback as far as RAP policy allows to do so in the coming years. The suggestions, queries, comments, and feedback of participants were recorded and answered by RTL and LDO. Main concern of discussions and clarification on issues includes the following: Both MPs stressed on the upgrading (at least gravel standard) of RAP constructed roads. Requested to support for construction of Dailekh-Mahabu-Jumla Road, which will be 67 km shorter than existing Surkhet-Jumla Karnali Highway. RAP should extend further phases in Dailekh and focus now on upgrading the rural roads on the top of maintenance. RAP activities on roads lying within one municipality/rural municipality should work with concerned Rural/Municipality. But that covers more than should go/coordinated by DCC. Another focus of participants is the preparation of Transport Master Plan that fits to newly formed Municipality/Rural Municipality i.e. Local Level.

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Fund for emergency maintenance should managed prior to start monsoon from current year’s budget. Participants also seem positive on RMG engagement in DRCN roads and wished to continue the program under Rural Municipalities/Municipalities.

The DCC Chief, Mr. Prem Bahadur Thapa from the chair in his concluding remarks appreciated RAP’s contribution on introducing maintenance system of DRCN in the district on the top of constructing three roads in Dailekh. He also highlighted on sustainability issue of RAP constructed three major backbone roads of the district as well as other district roads because all are earthen surface road. He requested RAP for upgrading road with drains, water management, slope protection and necessary structures. Recent water management system in Mahabu road has proven that there is minimal damages by rain is important works for the sustainability of roads. This has seen positive impact from recent works carried out by Department of Roads too. Regarding CONNECT activities, he suggested to explore more potential areas in Dailekh for dairy development and other associated infrastructures for economic development, business enterprises in agriculture as well as other sectors as found feasible. LRN lying within each municipality/rural municipality should be handover to local level units for maintenance and road lying within two or more system municipality/rural municipality shall be implemented under DCC coordination. He emphasised to maintain quality works and suggested all staffs, who have experience and skills on project implementation, to guide newly elected local body representatives to improve quality works and attain overall sustainability of infrastructure projects utilising resources available in the district. He appreciated RAP support on DRCN maintenance and informed participants that GoN/DoLIDAR had allocated routine maintenance RMG budget and DCC’s plan to handover all DRCN road maintenance works to concerned local bodies soon.

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

PART II: MUNICIPAL ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP

1. BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

Following the signing of Bi-lateral agreement between the Government of Nepal (GoN) and the Department for International Development (DFID) in 2015, the Rural Access Programme Phase 3 (RAP 3) extension is being implemented in 14 districts1 of Nepal. With the enactment of the federal government set up and local level elections in 2017, one of the important start-up activities of RAP3 extension was to introduce itself among its municipal stakeholders in project DCCs. This was carried out through Engagement Workshops (EW) in all RAP3 DCCs. The purpose of this event, besides introducing RAP3 to municipal stakeholders, was to get important information and feedback from the municipal stakeholders on the key issues/problems that may be hindering the project implementation process, specifically related to Local Road Networks (LRN), which is one of the major thematic components of RAP 3. To carry out engagement workshops, 12 teams were deployed in 14 DCCs: one team for each maintenance DCC and two teams for the four new construction DCCs. This report details out the activities carried out by the team, responsible for Dailekh DCC. The field itinerary of the team is presented in the Appendix of the report. 2. OBJECTIVE OF THE FIELD MISSION

The overall objective of the field mission was to get a general idea on development status of the new municipalities, their problems and needs and initiate engaging potential municipal stakeholders in the RAP 3 implementation process. Specifically, the mission aimed at:

Rapport building with the municipal level stakeholders, Informing municipal stakeholders about the overall programme objective, scope and implementation modalities of the RAP 3, Identifying key development issues/problems prevailing in the municipalities in general, Identifying general idea to resolve the existing issues/problems, Collecting socio-economic and physical infrastructure data/information to understand the base line scenario, Identifying local risks that may impair programme delivery,

3. EXPECTED OUTCOME OF THE MISSION

The mission expected to contribute to the following: Municipal stakeholders are acquainted with RAP 3, Key issues/problems impairing development of LRN are identified, Ways and means to resolve the problems / issues are identified,

1 Nine core districts (Dadeldhura, Doti, Achham, Dailekh, Bajura, Kalikot, Jumla, Mugu & Humla) and five non-core districts (Dailekh, Morang, Sankhuwasabha, Parbat & Sindhupalanchowk).

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Necessary data/information is collected to understand the baseline scenario of the municipalities, Local risk identified. 4. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

4.1 Pre-workshop activities The central team (Mr. Laxman BD Shrestha – DC/AME) reached Dailekh on 13th September 2017, and held informal meeting with RAP district team and DCC officials2 on the same day. The outcomes of these meetings were:

Workshop schedule revisited and finalised, Invitees list revisited and finalized. DDC Chairperson will chair and LDO remains as organizer. Sector offices are marked for group discussion as per their working area and sector relevance with respect to RAP 3 themes, Identified the organisations for next day consultation meetings (to collect relevant data/information), Workshop Venue, logistics, breakfast and lunch were finalised.

4.2 Workshop Proceedings The EW was conducted on 15th September, 2017. The workshop succeeded the district annual review programme. The Annual review provided an introduction to the engagement workshop too. The workshop schedule is presented in the Appendix.

4.2.1 OPENING SESSION The engagement workshop was convened after finishing the Annual Review session chaired by DCC Chairperson. LDO remains at participants’ bench as organiser. In this session, DC/AME-RAP TMO gave a presentation on RAP’s engagement strategy highlighting the key thematic areas for discussions. 4.2.2 Discussion Session The discussion session started with a brief presentation on the methodology of the workshop and its focal points. The workshop facilitator from RAP 3 TMO, was Mr. Laxman BD Shrestha, District Coordinator/AME. Following the presentation on purpose and steps of district level engagement of the programme the participants were divided into four groups. The group will lead by Mayor of four Municipality viz. Narayan, Aathbis, Dullu and Chamunda Brindasain. Participants of groups are asked to prepare top five priority issues and possible solutions on each of the issues. Participants noted down the issues and possible solutions in note-book and then enlist in brown paper for presentation. Issues and possible solutions was presented by Dullu Municipality Mayor Mr. Ghanashyam Bhandari and collected comments from other groups to add more. Due to time constraints, prepared brown paper from other groups were collected and DCC chairperson advised to start conclusion session as DCC has set another meeting with local level bodies on same day.

2 Mr. Dila Ram Panthi (LDO), Mr. Padam Sapkota (Program Officer),

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

The extracts of the top five issues on each themes and possible solutions is presented in the following table. Table II.1: Issues and Possible Solutions on Thematic Areas

S.N. Thematic Areas Issues Possible solutions 1 Policy No policy on monitoring/ No expertise on Need of effective and harmonised policy such policy making on monitoring/evaluation No clear cut HRD policy in place Need to delegate authority for No clear cut rights, roles, responsibilities recruitment of qualified staff at LL. Need of Judicial committee in LLG of establishing technical institutions at No policy for punishment towards local level mishandling Harmonised laws, rules and regulations Lack of local incomes for Judicial Committee No clear cut policy of resource handover Policy on rewards and punishment to LLG (i.e. Centre →Province →Local, Identify possible resources for internal Donors to local level etc.) revenue, formation of law and No policy of tax on cosmetic products regulations, guidelines as required No clear policy/knowledge on optimum Central govt. need to formulate resource utilisation transparent and effective policy & Relationships between donor agencies strategies for local level bodies and local levels Appropriate tax laws to be formulated and enforced Guidelines/directives for resources identification/generation/utilization Establish direct working relationships between donor agencies and local levels 2 Planning Lack of periodic plan and long-term Holistic study on socio-economic, vision/policy on project prioritisation, environmental & cultural aspects and selection & implementation prepare short term & long term plan and Projects are not selected as per local implement accordingly demand, needs and identification Need to formulate necessary policy & Planning cycle not followed strategies to address demands No participation of voiceless, Orientation/Capacity development on disadvantaged/deprived groups in planning cycle & its importance planning process Formulate policy/strategy of meaningful Not aware on taking ownership by weak participation of all sectors/communities people of community in planning in planning process processes Formulate policy/orient the weak people Planning cycle is long/tedious steps to be for inclusive participation in the overall adopted planning cycle Prevalent of central influences in Need to simplify & prepare simple preparing plan & projects guidelines/directives Influence of Elite groups in plan Information dissemination to target preparation/ project selection/ budget group & orientation on planning allocation etc. processes, involvement of civil society on overall planning process 3 Implementation Lack of clear implementation policy Formulation of implementation policy, (maintenance, because of new Local Level guidelines/directives etc. upgrading, No DPR, IEE or EIA prepared for the Mandatory to prepare DPR, IEE or EIA sustainability) implementation of selected project for major projects, approve it, & activities implement it preparing work plan Lack of skill/competent staff and lack of Concerned agency should employ equipment/machineries adequate staff & arrange necessary Procurement policy/rules and contract technical equipment/machineries management is very lengthy and Procurement policy/rules should be problematic harmonised/simplified for the local level Project not completed in time, cost units and make strict contract

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

S.N. Thematic Areas Issues Possible solutions overrun than estimated cost management system that can enforce by No strict people’s participation policy for local level implementation Feasibility and detailed study should be Slow execution of projects both by users must prior to select projects. DPR must and contractors be mandatory for all types of project. Lack of people’s participation, users lets Establish time bound project works to contractor Strictly enforce terms and conditions of Lack of governance in project implementation/contracts, regular implementation monitoring and follow up. Strict policy of blacklisting contractor/s Minimise involvement of elites 4 Funding Lack of fund, uncertainty of funds Centre should ensure adequate budget Delay in authority delegation/ budget to local level. Local resource generation transfer should be promoted Capacity of local level to utilise/ expend Timely budget disbursement from centre the available resources to local level Lack of competent human resources Timely decision on plan and budget No access to banks, financial institution preparation, timely implementation with at local level adequate competent personnel Law & regulations to establish bank, financial institution at local level 5 Organisational Lack of office space, physical Arrangement of office building, budget infrastructure, logistics allocation for adequate office setup/ Office management problem refurbishment & accessories Lack of competent human resources at Assignment of adequate staffs and their local level capacity building/training etc. Assignment/Allotment of staffs in local Central govt. need to prepare policy on level addressing staff’s motivation and fringe Staffs not willing to work in local level benefit packages Public entity alone providing services; No Policy formulation for involvement of coordination to include all public private partnership & coordination sector/organisations within all stakeholders. Regular No PPP policy adopted or ineffective interaction/Information flow Bank/financial institutions are not Encourage to establish banks & financial established at local level institutions at LL & ensure security to run the institutions Formulate liberal & clear policy on PPP. Motivate private sectors 6 Monitoring and Lack of effective monitoring and Establish effective M&E system and evaluation evaluation system for new local level implement effectively Standard and indicators of Monitoring Set & establish monitoring standard and evaluation not set/fixed /indicators & guidelines/directives Frequency of/ Regular monitoring and Regularise monitoring visits with quality of monitoring visits planned schedule & quality outputs Community level monitoring Public hearing & public audit should be Reporting and examination carried out/institutionalized Lack of technical personnel for quality Reporting of monitoring & feedback for feedback of monitoring activities future improvement & evaluate Monitoring not done based on reality, Delegate monitoring and valuation done only for formality authority to local levels Establish joint monitoring and evaluation mechanism representing people from DCC and local level for regular monitoring and evaluation of projects

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

5. CLOSING SESSION

In closing session, Mr. Ghanashyam Bhandari Mayor of Dullu Municipality after the presentation of discussion findings of his group, appreciated the initiative of RAP to provide collective platform for sharing common issues faced by newly elected local level bodies. He mainly highlighted the problems faced like lack of proper resources, physical infrastructures, financial and human resources etc. and hoped to support from RAP3 as possible in coming days. Chief District Officer Mr. Bishwo Raj Neupane, also appreciated the subject matters included for the discussion in different thematic areas and assured to support from him for the coordination with newly formed local level bodies if deemed necessary. He expressed his well wishes for the betterment of programme and also advised to proceed from now onwards for execution of programme activities coordinating local levels. Finally, DCC chairperson Mr. Prem Bahadur Khadka, closed the engagement workshop expressing heartfelt thanks to RAP for providing a common platform to the representatives of all Municipalities/Rural Municipalities. He added that the RAP have had a tremendous positive impact in the overall infrastructural development of the district and hoped that the programme will continue in Dailekh district in the next phases of RAP.

5.1 Key outputs of the workshop

The workshop participants had a common understanding about the overall objectives and scope of RAP3. The process of engaging key district stakeholders in different areas was initiated. Major development issues in the areas of human resource development, funding, office facilities and equipment. A set of recommendations to resolve the major issues/problems obstructing the development were identified. Summary of discussion is presented below. The common issues in all thematic sectors are:  Policy: Even though some statutory provisions have been put in place, necessary acts, regulation and directives required for full-fledged functioning of the local bodies are yet to be enforced by the central government. After enactment of necessary statutes and related rules and directives, a lot of policy related hindrances and constraints will start popping up in different areas of local development. The existing local development policies including those related to RTI needs to be revisited and amended in line with the new acts and regulation enacted under the new federal set up.  Planning: There often seems political influence (central or local level) in project selection. No or poor sector wise and periodic plans, lack of project appraisal system in project selection and prioritisation process at local levels, exclusion of voices of disadvantaged groups and backward communities in the planning process and no meaningful participation of target beneficiaries at local level are the major pitfalls in the prevalent current local development planning.  Improper implementation: Incompetent and inadequate workforce, lack of technology, tools and equipment, delayed authorisation and release of budgets, inadequate budget allocation,

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

politicisation of development projects, low level of absorptive capacity in budget spending and very poor quality management system, slow/unsatisfactory progress and lacking of people’s participation are major issues in implementation. Inadequate funding: Resource constraints has been a challenge to meet demands for implementation of numerous projects selected based on political influences. On the other, Rural Municipalities and Municipalities are not able to generate and efficiently managed resources from various funding sources. This situation is very likely to continue for years to come under the new federal set up also. No access to bank or financial institutions at local level also raised in the EW.

 Weak Organisational Infrastructure: Newly formed local levels are lacking basic infrastructural prerequisites like an office building/facilities and adequate and qualified and competent workforce for regular functioning of their offices. Public entity alone providing services at local level, lacking motivating strategy/policy to include private sector in development efforts.  Ineffective M&E: Lack of result-based monitoring and evaluation with sufficient documentations is a common issue. There is no mandatory provision of providing feedback to the implementation team for improvement and rectification in works performed. There does not exist a systematic approach to tracking progress and quality in development projects. M&E is carried out as a ritual just for the purpose of formalities. As DCC’s mandate is constrained to coordination, monitoring and supervision of local levels in the district, establishment of a joint M&E team representing DCC and local level will help improve M&E system in future. 6. WORKSHOP EXPENDITURE

Total expenditure of the worhshops remained at NRs. 226,105.00. Details of expenditure for annual review and CIM assessment is presented in the appendix of the report.

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Appendix – 1: List of CIM Review Meeting Participants

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Summary of CI Scores of Dailekh District – Last 7 Years

Thematic Baseline Aug Aug Aug July July Sep Key Elements Score Area Oct 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 1. 1.1 Maintenance Planning NA Maintenance 1.2 Maintenance Implementation NA 1. Planning 1.1 Asset Management 3.0 6.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.1 8.1 Prioritisation 1.2 Asset Management Planning 4.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 8.5 8.5 9.0 2. Technical 1.2 Asset Management 2.0 8.0 8.5 8.5 9.0 9.0 9.5 Implementation 2.2 Road Project Management 2.0 4.0 6.0 7.0 5.5 5.0 7.0 2.3 Road Network Condition 4.0 5.0 5.5 6.0 7.5 7.6 8.0 2.4 Road Network Standard 3.0 3.0 4.0 6.0 6.0 6.2 6.5 3. Finance 3.1 (Asset Management) 3.0 3.0 3.5 5.5 6.0 6.0 7.0 Maintenance Funding 3.2 Financial Management 7.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 8.5 8.5 8.5 Procedures 3.3 Fund Disbursement 7.0 8.0 8.5 8.5 9.0 8.5 9.0 4. 4.1 Institutional Relationship 4.0 5.0 6.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.2 Institutional 4.2 MCPM; Minimum Conditions NA NA NA 8.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 of Performance Measurement 5. Social and Discuss on political, economic & social concerns (e.g. Chhaupadi, HIV AIDS, Caste & Gender Political discrimination, Relation between rich and poor etc.) Concerns Average Total Score 4.0 5.6 6.4 7.2 7.6 7.7 8.25

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

CIM Review and Score (Scanned)

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Appendix - 2: Field Itinerary

Month Date Activities Transport Mode Sept 13 Kathmandu – Nepalgunj - Dailekh By Air & Car Sept 14 CIM and Annual Review/Engagement Workshop preparation works Sept 15 Annual Review/Engagement Workshop Sept 16 Field visit Desigade–Mahabu Road Car + On foot Sept 17 Return from Desigade–Mahabu, Staff Meeting Car + On foot Sept 18 Field visit; Ramaghat-Singasain Road and travel to Office car Nepalgunj Sept 19 Nepalgunj - Kathamndu By Air

Appendix - 3: Expenditure: Annual Eeview and Engagement Workshop & CIM Description Estimated in Proposal (NRs.) Spent (NRs.) Annual Review and Engagement 271,300 216,305 Workshop CIM 10,000 9,800 TOTAL 281,300 226,105

Appendix - 4: Workshop Schedule

Time Activity Responsibility 10:30 – 11:00 Registration Participants 11:00 – 11:10 Nomination of chairperson, chief guest, Facilitator (Padam Sapkota) special guest and other guests 11:10 – 11:25 Introduction of Participants All 11:25 - 11:30 Welcome and Programme Start up Facilitator (Padam Sapkota) 11:30 - 12:15 Workshop Objectives, Presentation of RAP3 RTL (Rajendra Kumar Shrestha) Activities, Progress, Outputs & Challenges over past year 12:15 – 12:25 Presentation of RAP3 CONNECT Activities, CDM (Kushal Hamal) Progress, Outputs & Challenges 12:25-13:00 Questions on presentations and clarification; RAP team and Padam Sapkota + Addresses by Chief Guest and Remarks by Speakers Chairperson 13:00 – 13:30 Khaja Break Organiser 13:30 – 13:50 Presentation: Municipal Engagement DC (Laxman BD Shrestha) 13:50 – 14:00 LRN Maintenance Strategy of GoN/DoLIDAR DoLIDAR Engineer- Binod Shakya 14:00 – 14:10 Break Out of groups Facilitators 14.10 – 15:50 Group discussion on priority issues of Participants municipalities/Rural municipalities and solutions on various issues 15:50 – 16:45 Presentations by Groups on Priority Issues Participants and solutions 16:45 – 17:00 Closing One representatives nominated by participants, DCC Chairperson 17:00 onwards Tea break Organiser

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Appendix – 5: List of Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop Participants

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

List of participants with position and address in English S.N. Name of Attendees Designation Organisation/Office 1 Prem Bahadur Thapa Chairperson DCC, Dailekh 2 Amar Bahadur Thapa Member of Parliament Constituency No. 1, Dailekh 3 Laxmi Prasad Pokhrel Member of Parliament Constituency No. 2, Dailekh 4 Laxmi Devi Shahi Vice Chairperson DCC, Dailekh 5 Bal Krishna K.C. Member DCC, Dailekh 6 Nande Khadka Member DCC, Dailekh 7 Lalit Jung Majhi Member DCC, Dailekh 8 Gita Chand Member DCC, Dailekh 9 Dila Ram Panthi LDO DCC, Dailekh 10 Chandra Kala Nepali Member DCC, Dailekh 11 Sarba Raj Mahatara Member DCC, Dailekh 12 Jung Bahadur Shahi Chair person Mahabu Rural Municipality, Dailekh 13 Sabitra Subedi Account Officer DCC, Dailekh 14 Bir Bahadur Bhadari Executive Member Naya Shakti Nepal, Dailekh 15 Purna Nath Yogi Na.Su. Planning Section DCC, Dailekh 16 Prem Bahadur Thapa Media Person Dailekh 18 Purna Bahadur Khatri Treasurer Nepali Congress, Dailekh 19 Narendra Bahadur Bhandari Chairperson Dungeshwor Rural Municipality, Dailekh 20 Khem raj Oli Chairperson Gurans Rural Municipality, Dailekh 21 Yubaraj Timilsena Secretary Belpata Dairy Cooperatives, Dailekh 22 Maha Dip Khatri Chair person NGO Forum, Dailekh 23 Purma Gharti Treasurer Adhikari Agriculture Group ,Dailekh 24 Sushmita Singh (Shahi) Vice Chairperson Thatikandh Rural Municipality, Dailekh 25 Padam Kumari Bista Vice Chairperson Bhairabi Rural Municipality, Dailekh 26 Chandra Regmi Vice Chairperson Bhagawati Mai Rural Municipality, Dailekh 27 Prem Kumari Budha Vice Chairperson Mahabu Rural Municipality, Dailekh 28 Bishnu Thapa Deputy Mayor Dullu Municipality, Dailekh 29 Prem Bahadur Budha Chairperson Bharabi Rural Municipality, Dailekh 30 Sarba Raj Mahatara Member DCC, Dailekh 31 Dan Bahadur Thapa Vice Chairperson Bhagawati Mai Rural Municipality, Dailekh 32 Nanda Bahadur Khadka Member DCC, Dailekh 33 Chandra Nepali Member DCC, Dailekh 34 Deepa Kumari BC Vice Chairperson Gurans Rural Municipality, Dailekh 35 Deepa Bohara Deputy Mayor Aathbis Municipality, Dailekh 36 Sangita Shrestha Member Akhil Nepal Mahila Sngha, Dailekh 37 Puja Thapa Vice Chairperson Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Dailekh 38 Khum Bahadur Thapa Account Officer DCC, Dailekh 39 Shanti Prasad Sharma Chairperson Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Dailekh 40 Laxmi Kumar B.K. Joint Secretary Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, Dailekh

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

S.N. Name of Attendees Designation Organisation/Office 41 Tulsi Prasad Regmi Chairperson Bhawana Dairy Cooperatives, Dailekh 42 Prem Badi Member DCC, Dailekh 43 Sarba Dhwoj Malla Secretary Dandaparajul SMG, Dailekh 44 Narayan Prasad Pokharel Secretary Mathillo Dungeshwor RMG, Dailekh 45 Mahendra Prasad Acharya Accountant Chamunda Bundrasain Municipality, Dailekh 46 Keshab Raj Khatri Proprietor Pawan Agriculture Collection Centre, Dailekh 47 Bhim Bahadur Budha Executive Officer Bhagawati Mai Rural Municipality, Dailekh 48 Matrika Prasad Bhattarai Executive Officer Aathbis Municipality, Dailekh 49 Shova Ram Rijal Executive Officer Thatikandh Rural Municipality, Dailekh 50 Sunita Kumari Khatri Executive Officer Gurans Rural Municipality, Dailekh 51 Dhruva Raj Acharya Executive Officer Dullu Municipality, Dailekh 52 Ghanashyam Bhandari Mayor Dullu Municipality, Dailekh 53 Dirgha Bahadur Thapa Kharidar DCC, Dailekh 54 Dhir Bahadur Shahi Chairperson Thatikandh Rural Municipality, Dailekh 55 Chandra Kala Rawal Member DCC, Dailekh 56 Dil Bahadur Shahi SMO DCC, Dailekh 57 Padam Sapkota Programme Officer DCC, Dailekh 58 Bhakta Bahadur Malla Executive Officer Narayan Municipality, Dailekh 59 Ratna Bahadur Khadka Mayor Dullu Municipality, Dailekh 60 Mahendra Prasad Neupane Act. Executive Officer Mahabu Rural Municipality, Dailekh 61 Sabitri Malla Deputy Mayor Narayan Municipality, Dailekh 62 Shamser Bahadur Malla Programme Officer Dullu Municipality, Dailekh 63 Bhumika Bhandari Programme Narayan Municipality, Dailekh 64 Binod Shakya Engineer DoLIDAR, Kathmandu 65 Rajendra Kumar Shrestha RTL RAP3, Dailekh 66 Kushal Hamal CDM RAP3, Dailekh 67 Rishma Pokharel GE RAP3, Dailekh 68 Kamal Prasad Adhikari OM RAP3, Dailekh 69 Prakash Bikram Shahi SAME RAP3, Dailekh 70 Hemant Bikram Shahi MD RAP3, Dailekh 71 Rameshwor K.C. IoW RAP3, Dailekh 72 Prakash Khadka Driver RAP3, Dailekh 73 Dambar Bahadur Gurung RMG Runner RAP3, Dailekh 74 Kiran Pandey Intern Engineer RAP3, Dailekh 75 Bishwo Raj Neupane CDO District Administration Office, Dailekh 76 Mandir Thapa PA to CDO District Administration Office, Dailekh 77 Prem Bahadur Katuwal Coordinator Maobadi Kendra, Dailekh 78 Suman Magar Guard District Administration Office, Dailekh 79 Prem Koirala Office Assistance DCC, Dailekh 80 Laxman Bhakta Dahi Shrestha DC/AME RAP3 TMO, Kathmandu

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Appendix - 6: Photographs:

CIM Assessment Meeting Closing Remarks by DDC Chairperson – CIM

Program Officer Padam Sapkota Facilitating AR WS Presentation by RTL; Annual Review Workshop

Presentation by DC Laxman; Objectives & Discussion Presentation by CDM Kushal Hamal; CONNECT Matters on 6 Themes of Engagement Workshop

DoLIDAR Engineer Binod Shakya Delivering Speech on Participants of the Workshop Road Maintenance Strategy & RMG Budget

A Report on CIM Assessment, Annual Review and Municipal Engagement Workshop, Dailekh

Group Discussion Group Discussion and Listing Outcomes

DCC Chief, LDO also Facilitating Group Discussion Discussion Outputs Presentation by Mayor, Dullu Municipal

MP Amar B. Thapa Addressing in the Closing Session MP Laxmi P. Pokharel Addressing in the Closing Session

Closing Remarks by CDO Dailekh Closing Remarks by DCC Chairperson; EN WS