Commissions for Nepal’s marginalised left powerless

Nepal's constitutional commissions, established to safeguard the rights of marginalized communities, are facing severe criticism for their ineffectiveness. Seven of these bodies, including those for women, Dalits, Indigenous peoples, Madhesis, Tharus, Muslims, and a National Inclusion Commission, are reportedly rendered largely symbolic due to chronic underfunding, weak legal mandates, and government indifference.

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These commissions have become little more than showpieces.

These commissions, created under Nepal's Constitution, were intended to ensure the protection, inclusion, and advancement of various groups. However, many operate on minimal budgets, barely covering salaries and office expenses, while their recommendations to the government are routinely ignored. Unlike older, more established constitutional bodies, these seven have struggled to assert themselves as effective institutions, lacking both financial resources and legal authority.

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The Constitution itself discriminated against them, and the laws that followed weakened them even further.

Critics, including former officials, argue that these commissions were established more to project an image of inclusion than to enact meaningful change. Vijay Dutta, former chair of the Madheshi Commission, stated that the institutions have become "little more than showpieces." He contends that the Constitution and subsequent laws have weakened them, suggesting they either need real authority and resources or fundamental restructuring to fulfill their broad mandate of studying community conditions, recommending reforms, safeguarding heritage, and monitoring rights violations.

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Either they should be given real authority and adequate resources, or they should be fundamentally restructured.