Scribd
Upload
43 views

Jds Proposal - Forwarded

Uploaded by

अपरिचित यात्री
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
43 views

Jds Proposal - Forwarded

Uploaded by

अपरिचित यात्री
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Proposed Research Plan

Title (Maximum 30 words)


□ Be as explicit, concise and clear as possible.

Enhancing Fiscal Federalism in Nepal: Analyzing Utilization Efficiency of Conditional


Grants at the Local Level in Madhesh Province through External Audit

1. Research background/Literature review (Maximum 175


words)
□ State the situation and identify the problems of your country that you wish to investigate
from the national and global perspective, using the general information and/or statistics.
□ Define the field of your study area; your research scope; and the target(s) for investigation.
□ Describe literature review results relevant to your research.

Fiscal federalism serves as a pivotal mechanism for ensuring just, fair, and equitable resource allocation,
enhancing local autonomy, and fostering comprehensive economic stability(ACADEMIA.COM ). It shares not
only financial resources but also diversify risks and responsibilities.The federal government transfers the
programmes and resources as a conditional grant to the lower spheres with certain sets of conditions and
rules.hence it is directly related with fiscal equalities and autonomy of the local level. The conditional grants to
PLGs, which represent about 40% of all transfers to PLGs, need to be linked to development objectives and
national policies. (mof.gov.np/uploads/document/file/1669609824_)

Audit perspective?

The share of conditional grants in the total grants transferred from the federal government to the local
level has increased from 57.7 percent in FY2076।77 to 65.81 percent in FY2080.81 (MoF, 2024).
Out of the total grants transferred from the federal government to the local level of madhesh province
only in FY 2080-81, the share of recurrent conditional grants is currently 56.29 percent and capital
conditional grants is 3.38 percent (MoF, 2024).

The study of fiscal conditional grants is vital not only for the strengthening of Fiscal federalism of a
country but also for achieving long term development goals like SDGs, 16 th plan. (HDI too) The SDG
goal 1,2,3 to 11 & 17 can be affected by the status of grants efficiency which shows the importance of
study in this sector.
2. Relevance and justification (Maximum 350 words)
For instance, you are expected to explain some of the followings in this part.
□ State the relation of your research area with the national and sectorial development plan.
□ State the hypotheses or conjectures of the research outcome.
□ State how your research outcome will contribute to the solution of the development issues stated in JDS
Sub-Programme/Component.
□ Define your research questions as clearly as possible. Add a diagram or a table highlighting your idea, if
applicable.
□ State if there are any arguments in the field, and how will your proposal differ from existing lines of
argument.
□ Describe in what aspects of your research will be new and unique, as not just repetitions of past research.
□ State what will be the impact of your research outcome.

2.1 Statement of Problem


Article 251 of the Constitution assigns the The National Natural resouce and fiscal commision the
responsibility to conduct study and research work and prepare parameters as to conditional grants to
be provided to the state and Local governments.In the case of conditional grants provided by the
Government of Nepal to the provincial and local levels, the Commission has not been given a clear
role by the Inter-Governmental Finance Arrangement Act, 2074. (MOFaGa,नेपालमा वित्तीय
संघीयता र अभ्यास page 76).Although there is a constitutional provision regarding the study of
conditional grants, not enough research has been done. ( NNRFc report 2081)

Despite important constitutional, legal and structural provisions for managing the public finances of
the federal system, challenges exist in implementation by the sub-national levels covering all aspects
of economic development in their jurisdiction in accordance with the federal spirit and global good
practices . (conclusion Achyut wagle article,2023)

The reliance of local governments on the four types of IGFTs is still high – 74.3percent of total local
government revenue in FY23, which is slightly less than the 76.2 percent in FY20 – while
Conditional Grants to local governments have increased slightly overthe same period, from 43.5
percent to 46.5 percent of total revenue.The overall trend of IGFTs has remained unchanged, with the
largest proportion of resources for local governments being transferred through CGs. Conditional
Grantss should be decreased and FEGs increased to enable planning and decision-making by PLGs
according to bottom-up needs.(WB,2024)
External audits, recognized for promoting transparency, could play a significant role in enhancing
grant utilization efficiency. Despite these insights, there is limited research examining the specific
role of external audits in improving local-level conditional grant efficiency in Madhesh Province, a
region that heavily relies on such funds to address socio-economic needs.
2.2 purpose of the study
This study aims to ascertain the factors/constraints affecting utilization of conditional grants and
enhance efficiency of fiscal conditional grant.Furthermore, it will be a milestone to innovate audit
strategy to improve overall fiscal federalism which will help to achieve the sustainable goal as well as
periodic goals of nation.

2.3Research Question
A. Central Questions:
a. What are the main challenges faced by local governments in Madhesh
Province in utilizing conditional grants efficiently?
b. How do external audits impact the efficiency of conditional grant
utilization at local level in Madhesh Province?

B. Sub Questions:
i. Spending timliness and Budget utilization rates
ii. Budget adherence: Examining if the spending aligns with budgetes plans and targets
set by the grants.
iii. Cost effectiveness and project completion rate
iv. Audit and compliance rate: Frequency and results of audits, and how compliant the
municipality is with grant conditions.

Etc.

2.4 Expected outcome and policy implications:


Understanding status and challenges conditional grants implementations.Additionally, it will provide
an empirical evidence to the GON need for efficient mechanism at local level and province
level.Useful for Audit strategic plan 2024-30 too.
3. Research methods (Maximum 175 words)
Describe the method how you would support your argument:
□ Qualitative methods: describe who will be possible respondents, how to collect primary
data, how to analyze collected data, etc.
and/or
□ Quantitative methods: describe what data set will be used, where/how you get the data set,
how to analyze, etc.

3.1 Research Design/Approach


This research will be based on both qualitative and quantitative approach. A comparative
analysis among four municipality ( metro sub metro ,municipality and rural municipality) will be
carried out for primary data.

(Variable and Theoretical Framework?? )


3.2 Research Method
…….
3.3 Types of data and sampling
My plan is to use primary data. But to make the data collection procedure easy and economic we
can get basic data From FCGO launched a Sub national Treasury Regulatory Application
(SUTRA) and OAG launched NAMS. To fill the additional data ,stratified sampling will be used
( one one metro sub metro ,municipality and rural municipality) …………..

3.4 Data Analysis


??????
Comparative analysis of 4 local government
4. Bibliography
□ List the books and articles to which you refer in the proposal.

You might also like