Fostering Federalism: Functional Role of PRTAs

Surendra Babu Tiwari

A decade after the promulgation of the Constitution, Nepal’s transition from a highly centralized unitary system to a three-tier federal structure remains an ambitious and evolving political journey. Federalism aims for devolution of power with capacitated government units.  In this system, PRTA (Provincial Research and Training Academy), sometimes officially translated as Province Research and Training Center, initially conceptualized as Provincial Centre for Good Governance (PCGG) are the autonomous, statutory bodies established by the respective provincial governments across all seven provinces of Nepal. They serve as the institutional "engine rooms" designed to build capacity and professionalize governance at the subnational level. Thus, PRTAs contributing for capacity enhancement of human resources working for government ultimately contributes for efficient and effective, results-based service delivery at local and province level. It is evident that the effective public service delivery reduces grievances and increases ownership and level of satisfaction materializes the essence of federalism.

When Nepal carved out 753 local levels and 7 provinces, it instantly created a massive demand for skilled human resources. Local representatives and newly adjusted bureaucrats were suddenly tasked with complex legal drafting, macro-level economic planning, revenue mobilization, and gender-responsive budgeting and ICT integration in Public Service Delivery. PRTAs directly and indirectly address this gap and vulnerability.

By providing structured, tier-specific in-service training, Service- Entry training and trainings for other related field such as public procurement, service delivery etc.  for assistant and officer-level civil servants, these academies are professionalizing the local bureaucracy. PRTAs do not operate in a vacuum. They are the primary institutional vehicles for the Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP), the Government of Nepal's flagship national program dedicated to strengthening subnational governance. Under PLGSP’s multi-donor framework, PRTAs (formerly PCGGs) are designated as the exclusive provincial hubs for executing Capacity Development (CD) strategies for 753 Local Governments and Provincial Line Ministries PLGSP assists provincial governments in establishing PRTAs through executive orders to act as autonomous, provincial-level cost centers under training councils chaired by the Chief Minister.  This result is evident in the different offices of the government ministries and departments.

Cooperative Federalism

The Constitution of Nepal states that the relations between the Federation, Provinces, and Local Levels shall be based on the principles of coexistence, cooperation, and coexistence. Article 232 provides the engine of Nepal's federal structure, but inter-governmental mechanisms provide the oil. PRTAs act as the institutional grease that allows these wheels of cooperation to turn smoothly by capacity enhancement. On paper, this design is brilliant. It ensures that no single tier of government can completely override the others, creating a system of shared and self-rule meant to bring governance closer to the people.

Provincial governments are currently in the final year of their second tenure. Although public expectations have dramatically escalated over the past decade, administrative readiness continues to lag. For the leadership running the government, expanding governance capacity remains an urgent hurdle. True governance capacity relies on a blend of solid infrastructure, clear legal setups, sound financial management, tech-friendly workplaces, and robust accountability. Cultivating these institutional foundations is the only way to transform public service into a high-quality, citizen-centric experience.

Following the implementation of federalism, the established provincial governments and local levels have completed their first term and are now working in the final year of their second term. Citizens' expectations have skyrocketed, but the government's preparedness in terms of service delivery has not yet reached the expected level. Even for the government formed after the HoR poll held on March 5, 2026, enhancing the governance capacity of the provincial and local levels remains a priority issue. At this juncture, strengthening the institutional structures of the provincial and local levels is a prerequisite for enhancing governance capacity. Governance capacity is a broad concept. Strong institutional structures and infrastructure, proper legal frameworks and effective workflows, reliable and sustainable management of financial resources and allocative efficiency, accountability toward service seekers and the government-citizen relationship, efficiency in plan formulation and implementation capacity, a technology-driven work environment and skilled human resources, financial good governance, and a lean organization are indicators for measuring governance capacity. The stronger the governance capacity becomes, the more citizen-friendly and qualitative service delivery will be.

Capacity Enhancement and Policy through Local Research and Dialogue

By organizing various dedicated platforms, such as policy dialogues, people’s dialogues, issue-based discussions, and structured forums, they bring together researchers, bureaucrats, elected leaders, and community stakeholders. Thus,  these institutions successfully bridge the gap between academic research, grassroots realities, and subnational policy execution. This collaborative approach fosters evidence-based policy formulation. These academies are uniquely positioned in the seven provinces to conduct localized, province-specific research on the specific contextual socio-economic dynamics, climate vulnerability, and revenue potential. By generating hard data on local contexts, PRTAs provide Provincial Ministries and local executives with the empirical evidence required to draft customized laws. PRTAs act as the technical secretariat backing the Provincial-Local Relations Committees, transforming high-level policy into localized training curricula.

Fostering a Uniform Governance Culture: The Equalizing Role of PRTAs

One of the most persistent operational friction points in contemporary Nepal is the deep-seated mismatch in governance culture between the deeply institutionalized federal bureaucracy in Kathmandu and the newly formed subnational tiers. Following the country's historic transition to a three-tier federal structure, local and provincial governments found themselves with expansive constitutional mandates but a severe deficit in administrative framework. For decades, Nepal’s administrative ethos was top-down, centralized, and process-oriented. When power was decentralized, local bodies often lacked a unified understanding of rights-based governance, public accountability, and fiscal discipline.

In this fragmented landscape, Province Research and Training Academies (PRTAs) serve as critical equalizing institutions. By standardizing training curricula across municipalities and provincial ministries, PRTAs ensure that federal values—such as gender responsiveness, social inclusion, and transparent public procurement—are uniformly integrated into subnational operations. They bridge the gap between policy design and grassroots execution, transforming a chaotic transition into a synchronized administrative ecosystem. This standardization helps build a shared administrative ethos, ensuring that a citizen interacting with a local government office in a remote province experiences the same level of bureaucratic accountability and rights-based service delivery as they would in the federal capital.

Furthermore, as statutory bodies explicitly established under provincial jurisdiction, PRTAs embody the true spirit of provincial self-rule (Swashasan). Under the old centralized framework, subnational units were frequently treated as mere administrative post-offices or implementing arms of Kathmandu's ministries, lacking the authority to chart their own development trajectories. The institutionalization of PRTAs fundamentally rewrites this power dynamic. They stand as a powerful demonstration that provinces are autonomous constitutional entities capable of developing their own institutional architectures, diagnosing localized governance bottlenecks, and cultivating their own human capital.

By conducting localized research and generating context-specific data, PRTAs allow provinces to formulate legislation based on their unique realities rather than relying on blanket federal guidelines. Ultimately, by professionalizing the subnational workforce and asserting intellectual autonomy, PRTAs do not just train bureaucrats; they legitimize the federal structure itself, proving that self-rule is not a theoretical concept, but an operational reality in Nepal.

Conclusion

To fully strengthen federalism, PRTAs must overcome operational hurdles by securing independent, long-term provincial funding to move away from heavy reliance on federal and development partner budgets. They also need to aggressively recruit top-tier technical experts, such as constitutional specialists and trainers, planners, development practisioners to elevate their training programs beyond basic bureaucratic orientations. The ultimate success of Nepal’s federal project will not be judged by the elegance of its constitutional text, but by the responsiveness of its smallest governance units. If a citizen in a remote municipality receives swift public services, transparent budgeting, and inclusive local development, federalism wins.

By systematically upgrading the intellectual and operational infrastructure of subnational governments, the Provincial Research and Training Academies are doing the heavy lifting required to make federalism functional. Investing in PRTAs is not an administrative luxury; it is a political necessity to secure the democratic gains of Nepal's federal evolution.

(Author Tiwari is the Executive Director at Gandaki Province Training Academy)