Kathmandu, January 28
The 2015 constitution mentions 13 constitutional commissions with significant roles and responsibilities. However, as of now, only two of them are in full shape. Three of the commissions are totally vacant whereas the rest eight are incomplete and waiting for the government to appoint the officials.
Only the National Human Rights Commission and Public Service Commission have the members in the required numbers as provisioned in the constitution. The National Women Commission, National Dalit Commission and Indigenous Nationalities Commission do not have any officials.
Meanwhile, the Madheshi Commission, Tharu Commission and Muslim Commission have their chairpersons only. Four positions of members in each of the commissions are vacant.
Consequently, the commissions have failed to carry out their responsibilities. “The government has given us the job, but we feel like we are a head without the body,” a chair of one of the three commission says. Likewise, Bijaya Kumar Datta, the chair of the Madheshi Commission, says, “Though we do not have any legal issue, we fear to make any decision because anyone might question its rationale tomorrow claiming only one person made the decision.”
Former secretary Shanta Raj Subedi, who resigned as the chair of the National Inclusive Commission a few months ago, comments that the government is also not interested to give these commissions a proper environment to work.
