Why this project:

His Majesty's Government of Nepal has over the years realized that Good Governance is of paramount importance to ensure continued development of the country. It has, therefore, shown commitment to providing good governance through better utilization of resources and better service delivery to the people apart from being accountable and transparent in its activities.

Numerous Reform Programs are being undertaken with internal and external resouces. Many development partners such as World Bank, ADB, DFID, DANIDA and so on are involved in programs aimed at bringing improvements in various sectors.

However, it is observed that no coordinated approach seemed to have been adopted in these efforts. Sustainability of these programs is always in question. And hence there is duplication of efforts and resources in reform activities. It is also seen that in most cases, institutional memory is lacking. The culture of informed decision efficient resulting in frustrations among large section of the people.

In this context, despite all the efforts in sectoral reforms, more efforts are needed to improve governance so that people can feel the presence of a good government.

The government is, therefore, committed to bring in a substantial improvemnt in governance focusing more on civil Service reform. This project is providing technical assistance in support of this program. This Technical Assistance Project focuses on areas where specific preparations are needed for the implementation of activities, which are to be supported by an ADB Civil Service REform Program Loan, which the government and ADB have recently negotiated.

• Success could be achieved only when the system starts functioning.
• The reform has to be a continuous process rather than a one-time program.
• The reform should come from within the system so that it could become sustainable. For this, the government should own it.
• There is a need for internalization as well as institutionalization of the reform process.

It, therefore, intends to use largely facilitative and capacity building processes to assist the government ministries to move forward in planned reform activities, addressing a series of key areas, where progress is critical to the success of the overall reform program.

This project concentrates on areas, which focus on developing systems such as Establishment and Wage Bill Control, Long Term Civil Service Pay Policy, Personnel Information System, building capacity for change management and strengthening anti-corruption agency. The key components are the following:

• Developing an internal capacity for leading reform.
• Improving the overall Efficiency of the Civil Service.
• Establishing Process for Improving performance in Key Ministries
• Enhancing the overall Competence of Civil Servants
• Improving Governance and Reducing corruption

• Institutionalization of Reform Process
• Establishment of Performance based Management System in Key Ministries on a pilot basis so that they can be replicated.
• Improvement in the existing computerized Personnel Information System at the Ministry of General Administration and linking it with other ministries.
• Establishment of Wage Bill Control System
• Developed more capable leaders for undertaking reform agenda and change management
• Developed more competent Anti-Corruption Institutions

It is assumed that these will, in fact, help create Performing Bureaucracy in His Majesty's Governmentj of Nepal.

It is through the process of getting effective services from the governement agencies that people feel there is good governance. These Ministries have to deal with grass root people and have a role to play in providing direct services to the people and through these services, people could feel the good governance. Hence these three ministries are selected for initiating reforms to begin with.

• Act as an initiator of reform process
• Initiate implementation of approved regorm agenda
• Provide technical and management support as and when necessary
• Play a catalytic role for change
• Take lead role in Reform Agenda and set an example of reform process

• National and International experience sharing through the technical and consulting services
• Access to basic information ot the project

" No direct physical and monitory contribution to the change units because of the facilitative nature of the project"

• Identifying reform agenda
• Facilitation to address the identified reform agenda
• Creating environment to make change units more functional
• Encouraging Change Unit members
• Developing an effective information sharing system with/by the unit

• Improving Personnel Information System at the Ministry
• Improving the present Health Act
• Introducing appropriate Placement system for Health personnel
• Decentralizing most operational decisions
• Introducing effective monitoring system of health sector activities

• Securing patent rights for Nepali agricultural products in the context to WTO
• Improving farming Pattern in the country
• Improving capability of agriculture human resources
• Imporving market assess for the agriculture products
• Imporving marketability of Nepali agriculture products internationally

• Improving quality of education through effective teachers, appropriate curriculum and good educational environment
• Reducing difference in quality of education between provate schools and public schools
• Ensuring commitment of teachers to the teaching
• Improving management of public schools.

• Act as a central coordinating unit for HMGN's administrative reform program
• Provide support ot the reform committees, change units and efficiency units
• Monitor the progess of agreed upon reforms in Ministries and agencies on behalf of the reform committees
• Provide to the committees regular summaries of the status of reform activities and progress in each area
• Identify constraints to good governance and suggest ways to mitigate these constraints
• Provide technical and management support as and when necessary