Participation of Executive Members vs General Members in Decision-Making of the Plan Implementation Process at the Local Level
The position is associated with power, which is reflected in the performance of position holders. Therefore, the constitution of Nepal has envisioned an executive committee, council, and ward committee in local government. Mainly, the chairperson, Mayor, Vice-Chairperson, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairperson, and nominated and elected executive members are represented in the executive committee, and the rest of the members are general members of the local government. Hence, the executive committee is more powerful in executing daily administrative activities and implementing the plan, which the council meeting has approved. However, the position that affects participation in the plan implementation process at the local level has not been measured. So, this study explores their participation level in the plan implementation process at the local level. For this research, the sample size was 330 out of 1782, and the sample population was taken from elected members of the Local government of Sindhupalchok, Ramechhap, and Bara Districts. The study adopted mixed methods (Quantitative & Qualitative) and applied individual surveys and In-depth interviews. The multivariate results of binary logistic regression analysis revealed a significant difference between Executive vs. General Members regarding participation in the plan implementation process at the local level. Interestingly, executive members are 2.643 times more likely to participate in the plan implementation process than their general member counterparts (odd ratio=2.643, P= <.003), net of other controls. About 32.2 percent of the variation on the dependent variable has been explained by the independent variable (Executive vs. General Members), including other factors such as caste, age, gender, education, position, and geographic region. The qualitative report also seems highly dominant of higher position holders on general members, like ignoring the participation of general members and making a pocket person. The results suggest that inclusion increases the number of representations of diverse groups, but they do not have an opportunity to use their right in the plan implementation process equally, which is envisioned by the constitution of Nepal. Therefore, policy should focus on the use of rights equally, whatever is managed by the federal system. It will contribute more to local-level plan implementation for good governance and justice development.
Keywords: Participation, Local government, Position, Plan