The Constitution of Nepal 2015 has distributed power and responsibilities between and among the federal, provincial, and local governments through the provision of exclusive and concurrent powers. Significant progress has been made towards managing the country’s transition from a centralized/unitary structure to a federal setup. However, among others, overlap and contradictions on the assignment of functions across levels of government still exist – common understanding has not been reached regarding exclusive and concurrent competencies. While the prevailing laws are yet to be reformed as per the spirit and provisions of the Federal Constitution, newly enacted federal laws also have contradictions and unclear allocation of roles and responsibilities across levels. With these considerations, the Foundation had commissioned a study in 2018 aiming to understand the major problems on the division of jurisdiction and responsibility among spheres of government mainly at policies, institutions, and processes.

This summary brief encapsulates the major findings, recommendations, and conclusion of the study in less than 8 pages.