Social Protection:Review of Public Expenditure and Assessment of Social Assistance Programs
NEPAL
MAIN REPORTFY11–FY20
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Social Protection:Review of Public Expenditure and Assessment of Social Assistance Programs
NEPAL
MAIN REPORTFY11–FY20
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Acronyms viii
Chapter 1. Introduction 11.1 Social Protection in Federal Nepal 1
1.2 Objective and Scope of the Report 2
1.3 Data Sources, Methodology, and Limitations 3
Chapter 2. Assessment of Social Protection Programs and Trends in Expenditures 72.1 Analysis of Trends and Levels of Budget and Expenditure 7
2.1.1 Overall Expenditure 8
2.1.2 Social insurance 9
2.1.3 Social Assistance 11
2.1.4 Labor Market Programs 15
2.2 Ability of Social Assistance Programs to Address Risks and Vulnerabilities 16
2.2.1 Poverty 16
2.2.2 Shocks and Disasters 20
2.2.3 Vulnerabilities across the Life Cycle 21
2.3 Adequacy of Benefits and impacts of Selected Social Assistance Schemes 24
2.3.1 Social Security Allowances 24
2.3.2 Scholarships 25
2.3.3 Midday Meals 26
2.3.4 Safe Motherhood Program 27
2.3.5 Prime Minister’s Employment Program 27
2.4 Policy Coherence, Coordination, and Complementarity of interventions 27
2.4.1 Policy Clarity and Coherence 27
2.4.2 Coordinating interventions and Ensuring Transitions across Programs 28
2.5 Analysis of Fiscal implications of Social Assistance Reforms 31
2.6 Summary of Findings and Recommendations 34
2.6.1 Recommendations 36
Chapter 3. Social Protection Decentralization: Analysis of Functions, Allocations, and Expenditures 393.1 Social Protection in Federal Nepal: Legal and institutional Provisions 39
3.1.1 Constitutional Provisions on Allocation of Functions 39
3.1.2 Legal and institutional Arrangements for Delivery of Programs 41
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3.2 Allocation of Social Protection Program Budget 46
3.2.1 Overall Allocation between Levels of Government 46
3.2.2 Equity in the Allocation of Budget for Key Social Assistance Programs 48
3.2.3 Efficiency Perspectives in Program Budget Allocation 51
3.3 Social Protection Expenditure at the Local Level 52
3.3.1 Overall Expenditure at Local Levels 53
3.3.2 Local-Level Expenditures on Social Protection 54
3.4 Summary of Findings and Recommendations 56
Chapter 4. Planning and Budgeting for Social Protection - Analysis of Processes and Challenges 614.1 Processes at the Federal Level 61
4.1.1 Planning and Budgeting 61
4.1.2 Fund Flow 63
4.1.3 Monitoring and Reporting 63
4.2 Processes at the Provincial Level 63
4.2.1 Planning and Budgeting 64
4.2.2 Fund Flow and implementation 64
4.2.3 Monitoring and Reporting 65
4.3 Processes at the Local Level 65
4.3.1 Planning and Budgeting 65
4.3.2 Fund Flow and implementation 68
4.3.3 Monitoring and Reporting 74
4.4 Summary of Findings and Recommendations 75
Annexes 79Annex 1. List of Social Protection Programs 79
Annex 2. Assumptions Used in Projections 85
Annex 3. Framework and indicators for Estimating intergovernmental Transfers 88
Annex 4. FY19 per Capita Program Budget by Poverty incidence 90
Annex 5. School Scholarship Program and Midday Meal Program per Capita Budget for FY19 by Education indicators 92
Annex 6. Safe Motherhood Program per Capita Budget for FY19 by Health indicators 94
Annex 7. OLS Estimates of Determinants of per Capita Program Budget by Local Levels 96
Annex 8. Share of Social Protection in Total, Earmarked, and Discretionary Expenditures at Local Levels, FY19 98
Annex 9. Budgeting Processes and Timelines at Federal and Local Levels 100
Annex 10. Fund Flow of Key Programs before and after Federal Restructuring 101
Annex 11. institutional Arrangement for the Delivery of SP Programs at the Local Level 102
Bibliography 103
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List of FiguresFigure 1: Three Estimates of SP Expenditure 4
Figure 2: SP Expenditures (Nominal, NPR, billions) 7
Figure 3: SP Expenditure as a Share of GDP 8
Figure 4: SP Expenditure by Category, FY19 8
Figure 5: Distribution of Pensioners across Quintiles and by Gender and Location (NLFS iii) 10
Figure 6: SSA Beneficiaries over the Last 10 Years 11
Figure 7: Nominal and Real SSA Expenditure over the Last 10 Years 12
Figure 8: Evolution of Key Social Assistance Program Expenditures (Nominal and as Share of GDP) 13
Figure 9: Social Assistance Expenditure, as a Share of GDP 14
Figure 10: Budget Execution Rates 15
Figure 11: Consumption Poverty (2011) and Multidimensional Poverty (2014) 17
Figure 12: Coverage of Social Assistance by Asset Quintile 18
Figure 13: Percentage of Rural Households Receiving Benefits, across Quintiles 18
Figure 14: SP Programs across the Life Cycle 20
Figure 15: Total and Per Beneficiary Social Assistance Expenditure by Life Cycle in FY19 21
Figure 16: Coverage of SSA among Eligible individuals 22
Figure 17: Evolution of SSA Monthly Benefits over the Years (Nominal) 25
Figure 18 Projected Social Assistance Spending under Different Scenarios 33
Figure 19: Cost of SSAs under Various Scenarios, FY20 34
Figure 20: Typology for Division of Roles and Responsibilities in Social Protection 43
Figure 21: Total Budget Allocation and intergovernmental Transfers from the Federal Level 46
Figure 22: Decentralization of Federal Budget in Human Development Sectors 47
Figure 23: Distribution of Population across Areas and Poverty Headcount Ratios (HCRs) 48
Figure 24: Population and Poverty HCRs of Local Levels 49
Figure 25: Per Capita FY19 Program Budget for Three Federally Financed Programs 49
Figure 26: Per Capita FY19 SSA Budget by Geography 50
Figure 27: Changes in Education indicators by Receipt of Midday Meal Program (FY18–FY19) 52
Figure 28: Overall Local-Level Expenditure by Source 53
Figure 29: Local-Level Expenditures by Function 54
Figure 30: SP Expenditure Disaggregation by Source FY18 and FY19 55
Figure 31: Share of Human Development Sectors in Earmarked and Discretionary Local-Level Expenditures, FY19 56
Figure 32: Locations of Local Levels Visited by the Field Research Team 61
Figure 33: Local-Level Planning Process 66
Figure 34: intergovernmental Fund Flow Mechanisms 70
Figure 35: Fund Flow to Service Delivery Facilities 73
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List of BoxesBox 1: issues in Estimating SP Expenditures 3
Box 2: COViD-19 and SP in Nepal 5
Box 3: Potential Role of Social Registry in Nepal to improve Coordination across Programs 29
Box 4: Cash Transfer Programs as Mechanisms to Promote investment in Human Capital 30
Box 5: Delivering Social Protection in Federal Contexts - Lessons from international Experience 43
Box 6: Limited Analysis Can Result in Unsustainable Programming 69
Box 7: Excerpts from ‘Nepal: Capacity Needs Assessment for the Transition to Federalism’ Report 71
Box 8: Progress in Payment Systems 72
List of TablesTable 1: SP-Related Provisions in the Constitution of Nepal 1
Table 2: Key Social Assistance Programs 12
Table 3: Scenarios, Assumptions, and impacts of Simulated Projections 32
Table 4: Social Protection Related Excerpts from the Unbundling Report 40
Table 5: Social Protection Federal Budget Allocation (to All Levels, Functional Classification) 47
Table 6: Correlation between per Capita Program Budget and Poverty HCR 51
Table 7: Link between the Social Protection Budget and Health and Education Outcomes 52
Table 8: Summary of Local-Level Transfers and Expenditures by Source FY19 54
Table 9: Additional Programs for Social Protection at Selected Local Levels 67
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This report was prepared by Jyoti Pandey, Soyesh Lakhey, and
Aline Coudouel, under the direction of Stefano Paternostro
(Practice Manager), Lynne Sherburne-Benz (Regional
Director), and Faris Hadad-Zervos (Country Director).
Within the World Bank, the team is grateful to members of the
Social Protection and Jobs team, namely Anastasiya Denisova,
Phillippe Leite, and Jasmine Rajbhandary; members of the
Macro and Fiscal team, namely Florian Blum, Kene Ezemenari,
Leif Jensen, Nayan Krishna Joshi, and Tae Hyun Lee; and
Deb Narayan Mahato, Ram Krishna Rijal, Anupama Shakya,
Fahmina Rahman Dutta, Rakesh Ayer, and Tara Shrestha for
their assistance.
Acknowledgments
The team also wants to thank Government officials and
development partners, in particular colleagues from UNiCEF,
FCDO, UNHCR, UN Women, and Oxfam who provided
comments on an early draft of the report.
The analysis draws in part on a background note on
‘Delivering Social Protection in Federal Nepal’ prepared by
Tracy Fenwick and Soyesh Lakhey and a background report
‘Human Development Expenditure: A Qualitative Assessment
of Local Level Processes’ prepared by Gyanu Sharma, Mamata
Pokharel, Mahima Poudel, and Roshan Sedhain.
The team gratefully acknowledges financial support from
FCDO-UK.
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4Ps Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program
AHS Annual Household Survey
AUH Asignación Universal por Hijo
BISP Benazir income Support Program
BL Basic Level
CCT Conditional Cash Transfer
CFT Child and Family Tracker Survey
DHS Demographic Health Survey
DOHS Department of Health Services
DONIDCR Department of National iD and Civil Registration
DTCO District Treasury Comptroller Officer
ECD Early Childhood Development
ECED Early Childhood Education and Development
ELAM informal Sector Enterprise Development and
Employment Generation Program
EMIS Education Management information System
ENSSURE Enhanced Skills for Sustainable and Rewarding
Employment
ESC Employment Service Center
EVENT Enhanced Vocational Education and Training
FBA Formula-Based Amount
FCGO Financial Comptroller General Office
FDS Family Development Sessions
FEG Fiscal Equalization Grant
FIARCC Federalism implementation and Administration
Restructuring Coordination Committee
FWLD Forum for Women, Law and Development
G2P Government-to-People
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GPI Gender Parity index
HCR Headcount Ratio
HMIS Health Management information System
HRVS Household Risk and Vulnerability Survey
IFA iron and Folic Acid
IGD index of Decentralized Management
IGFA Act intergovernmental Fiscal Arrangements Act
ILO international Labour Organization
IT information Technology
KEP Karnali Employment Program
LL Local Level
MA Minimum Amount
MCHN Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition
MEDEP Microenterprise Development Program
MEDPA Microenterprise Development and Poverty
Alleviation
MICS Multiple indicator Cluster Survey
MIS Management information System
MOEST Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
MOF Ministry of Finance
MOHA Ministry of Home Affairs
MOHP Ministry of Health and Population
MOLESS Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social
Security
MOLCPA Ministry of Land Reform, Cooperatives and Pov-
erty Alleviation
MOUD Ministry of Urban Development
MOWCSC Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens
MPI Multidimensional Poverty index
MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework
NDHS National Demographic Health Survey
NER Net Enrolment Rate
NGO Nongovernmental Organization
NLFS National Labor Force Survey
NLSS National Living Standards Survey
Acronyms
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NNRFC National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission
NPC National Planning Commission
NSDS Nutrition Sensitive Direct Support
OJT On-the-Job Training
OPM Oxford Policy Management
OVC Orphans and Vulnerable Children
PAF Poverty Alleviation Fund
PBA Performance-Based Amount
PF Programa Familias
PFM Public Financial Management
PJJHD Jefes and Jefas
PL Primary Level
PMEP Prime Minister's Employment Program
PMT Proxy Means Testing
PNBSF Programme National de Bourses de Sécurité
Familiale
PSSN Productive Social Safety Net
PTCO Province Treasury and Controller Office
RCIW Rural Community infrastructure and Works
SDIP Safe Delivery incentive Program
SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises
SP Social Protection
SSA Social Security Allowance
SSAEP Social Security Allowance for the Economically
Poor
SSDP School Sector Development Project
SSF Social Security Fund
SUAS Unified System of Social Assistance
SuTRA Subnational Treasury Regulatory Application
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
VAW Violence against Women
VUP Vision 2020 Umurenge Program
WASH Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
WFP World Food Programme
YETI Youth Employment Transformation initiative
YSEF Youth and Small Entrepreneur Self-Employment
Fund
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
1 For a summary overview of the report, please refer to World Bank 2021. “Social Protection: Review of Public Expenditure and Assessment of Social Assistance Programs: Overview.”
1.1 Social Protection in Federal NepalNepal’s recent transition to a federal state structure
provides a historic juncture to realize the role that social
protection can play in achieving the constitutional
goals of equity, inclusion, and prosperity. The history of
government investment in social protection in Nepal goes
back to the mid twentieth century, with current expenditure
levels being above that of its neighboring countries and
those at similar levels of development. The transition to a
federal structure of governance and the promulgation of
a new Constitution founded on the principles of equity,
inclusion, and prosperity for all have brought about
tremendous expectations for the previously marginalized
and discriminated poor and vulnerable segments of the
population. Social protection (SP) programs, which have
been proven to contribute to poverty reduction and inclusive
growth, have the potential to play a significant role in meeting
these expectations and realizing the objectives of federalism.
Introduction1 CHAPTER 1.
Article Rights Description
31 Right to educationEvery citizen shall have the right to get compulsory and free education up to the basic level and free education up to the secondary level from the State.
33 Right to employment Every citizen shall have the right to employment.
34 Rights to labor Every laborer shall have the right to appropriate remuneration, facilities, and contributory social security.
35 Right related to healthEvery citizen shall have the right to free basic health services from the State, and no one shall be deprived of emergency health services.
36 Right related to food Every citizen shall have the right to food sovereignty in accordance with law.
38 Rights of womenEvery woman shall have the right to safe motherhood and reproductive health. Women shall have the right to obtain special opportunity in education, health, employment, and social security, on the basis of positive discrimination.
39 Rights of childrenEvery child shall have the right to name and birth registration along with his or her identity.A child who is helpless, orphan, with disabilities, conflict victim, displaced, or vulnerable shall have the right to special protection and facilities from the State.
40 Right of Dalits Special provision shall be made by law to provide health and social security to the Dalit community.
41 Rights of senior citizens The senior citizens shall have the right to special protection and social security from the State.
42 Rights to social justiceThe indigent citizens and citizens of endangered ethnicities shall have the right to get special op-portunities and benefits in education, health, housing, employment, food, and social security for their protection, upliftment, empowerment, and development.
43 Right to social securityCitizens who are economically poor, infirm and helpless, helpless single women, with disabilities, children, unable to take care of themselves, and belonging to endangered ethnicities shall have the right to social security, in accordance with law.
Table 1: SP-Related Provisions in the Constitution of Nepal
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Nepal has a robust constitutional and legal basis for
social protection. The rights to social security, employment,
education, health, food, and housing are fundamental rights
enshrined in the Constitution. The Constitution also provides
for other fundamental rights reserved for Dalits, women,
children, and senior citizens. Social justice is included as both a
fundamental right (Article 42) and a guiding principle of state
governance (Article 50). The economically poor, incapacitated
and helpless, single women, people with disabilities,
endangered ethnicities, children, and those who cannot take
care of themselves have the Right to Social Security (Article
43). Social protection and inclusion-related policies are to
prioritize targeting of the economically poor among members
of all genders, communities, and regions (Article 51.j.12). The
inclusion of these rights provides a legal and constitutional
basis and mandate to require all SP programs to ensure that no
eligible citizens are excluded from exercising their fundamental
rights to those services. Table 1 provides a list of SP-related
rights included in the Constitution.
The transition from a unitary to a federal structure of
governance brings challenges as well as opportunities to
ensure that investments in social protection are leveraged
for the effective realization of these fundamental rights.
Nepal’s social protection sector has been characterized by
a fragmented program landscape, with limited institutional
capacity to coordinate across various interventions. The
transition to federal state was accompanied by continuation
of legacy programs and delivery systems developed during
the unitary structure of governance. The somewhat slow
progress in building capacity of subnational levels and
continuing lack of clarity on the roles of different levels of
government in the new federal structure further adds to
the complexities and challenges of the transition. However,
decentralization also provides a unique opportunity to
improve beneficiary identification, coverage, adequacy, and
the quality of service delivery at the subnational levels, while
also allowing for greater citizen participation in setting levels
and standards of social protection services.
1.2 Objective and Scope of the ReportThis report assesses overall social protection
expenditures, with a focus on non-contributory social
assistance programs. is Nepal’s spending in social protection
adequate? Are social assistance programs aligned with the
various sources of risks and vulnerability? Does the current
state of policy and institutional arrangement support
coordinated, efficient, and effective planning and delivery
of programs across the three level of governments? Do the
processes to allocate, transfer, and implement program
funds ensure equity, efficiency, and inclusion? What are the
constraints and bottlenecks in improving the design, delivery,
and monitoring of programs? These are some of the questions
that the various chapters in this report aim to engage with to
elicit some recommendations on the way forward.
The objectives of the report are to (a) analyze social
protection expenditure and the social assistance program
portfolio in Nepal and formulate recommendations for
greater impact and efficiency; (b) assess the decentralization
of functions and funds as they relate to delivery of social
assistance in the federal context, with a focus on both
the allocation and expenditure figures and the processes
followed at each level of government; and (c) provide
recommendations on the policy, institutional, programmatic,
and procedural changes necessary to improve the efficiency
and effectiveness of expenditures in Nepal, with a particular
focus on social assistance.2
Definition. Social protection is defined in this report as the set
of programs and systems that help individuals and households,
especially the poor and vulnerable, reduce poverty, cope with
crises and shocks, find jobs, improve productivity, and invest
in health and education of their members. it is defined here to
cover the following range of programs:
n Social insurance. Typically includes contributory
programs such as public sector pensions, unemployment
insurance, and health insurance. Public sector pension is
2 After a review of overall SP spending, this report focuses on social assistance programs.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Box 1: issues in Estimating Social Protection Expenditures
According to the economic classification of the Government of Nepal, Social Security (coded 27000 in the Red Book) includes social security transfers to senior citizens, single women, and so on (coded 27100); scholarships (coded 27200); and pensions and other benefits to government staff (coded 27300). The expenditure economically classified as social security in FY19 was about NPR 117 billion, and allocation for FY20 was NPR 157 billion. This classification, however, excludes some social assistance programs like the Prime Minister’s Employment Program (PMEP) and Rural Community infrastructure and Works (RCiW) and midday meals; insurance programs like the health insurance program; and labor market programs like the Youth and Small Entrepreneur Self-Employment Fund (YSEF).
The functional classification of Social Protection which includes expenditures on the infirm and ill, senior citizens, those in the custody of the state, family and child welfare, unemployed, social non-
inclusive, SP - research and development, and SP - unclassified, counts a much smaller portion of the expenditure. The expenditure functionally classified as SP in FY19 was NPR 47 billion, and allocation for FY20 was NPR 71.4 billion.
in this report, when adopting a broader definition of Social Protection including all social insurance, social assistance, and labor market programs, FY19 expenditure is estimated to be NPR 134 billion. Besides cash transfers, social assistance includes noncontributory programs such public works and school meal programs which are not coded as social security. This broader definition also includes labor market programs such as Enhanced Vocational Education and Training (EVENT) and YSEF which support skill training and employment support. The table below compares the list of key programs classified as Social Security according to the economic classification to list of programs according to the broader definition. Figure 1 presents total expenditure for each classification.
included here although it has been noncontributory in
Nepal until two years ago.
n Social assistance. Noncontributory programs, such as
cash transfers, scholarships, health subsidies, and school
feeding, include care services.
n Labor market programs. Skills training, economic
inclusion, entrepreneurship, job-search, and employment
support programs.
This differs from the economic and functional classifications
as used in the government budget, both of which exclude
certain programs that are generally considered as social
protection. Box 1 presents the different definitions of social
protection according to these classifications.
Private vs public expenditures. The analysis conducted
as part of this study only looked at public sources of funds
for expenditures in social protection defined above. Hence,
private contributions to the Social Security Fund (SSF) or Health
insurance Program or private sector provision of labor market-
related programs like skills training, business support services,
and so on are not included as part of the analysis in the report.
1.3 Data Sources, Methodology, and LimitationsThe report uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative data
over the past 10 years. The analysis presented in the report
focuses on the period covering FY11 to FY20 (only allocation
data for FY20) for national expenditure and FY18 and FY19
for local-level allocations and expenditures. The analysis is
anchored in secondary data from various sources including
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Source: Red book, Ministry of Finance, Various years
program administrative data, red books, expenditure data
from consolidated financial reports, surveys from various years
(including Annual Household Surveys [AHSs], National Living
Standards Survey [NLSS], National Labor Force Survey [NLFS],
and so on), and macroeconomic projections prepared by World
Bank staff. in addition, primary data were collected specifically
for this report, from field visits to 10 local levels across the seven
provinces, used primarily to inform the findings of chapter 4.
Figure 1: Three Estimates of Social Protection expenditure
Programs included in this report’s esti-mates and classified as Social Security in
the economic classification
Programs included in this report’s estimates but not classified as Social
Security in the economic classification
Programs classified as Social Security in the economic classification but not
included in this report’s estimates
Social Security Allowances (SSAs)Public works programs:
� PMEP � RCiW
Expenditures under Jail Offices, immigra-tion Office, and District Administration Offices
Scholarships to students Midday mealsScholarships provided to government staff across various agencies
Social Welfare Centers (under Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens [MOWCSC])
Social Welfare Program (under MOWCSC)
Leprosy Control Public food distribution system
Safe Motherhood Program National Health insurance
EVENT YSEF
Public sector pensions SSF
Retirement gratuity, accumulated leave, and medical facility
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Box 2: COViD-19 and Social Protection in Nepal
Measures to contain the spread of COViD-19 including lockdowns, travel restrictions, and border closures have adversely affected significant groups of Nepal’s population. in addition, remittance earnings have declined sharply. The poor and vulnerable, particularly the nearly 8 million people in subsistence agriculture and 5.9 million people who work in informal sectors, are the hardest hit (NLFS 2017/18). According to the estimates of the international Labour Organization (iLO) from May 2020, between 1.6 million and 2.0 million jobs are likely to be disrupted in Nepal, either with complete job loss or reduced working hours and wages (excluding the impact on the subsistence farmers). There are nearly 3.7 million workers earning their livelihoods in the sectors deemed most at risk to experience a significant (medium to high) reduction in economic output as a result of the COViD-19 crisis. Large numbers of people will slide into poverty.
SP measures are critical to mitigate the pandemic’s impact by compensating people for loss of income, promoting employment retention, and helping small businesses and the self-employed recover from the crisis. However, SP programs and systems have not been mobilized at scale to respond to the crisis. The Government of Nepal has responded with food assistance and scaled up cash-for-work program, although delayed in many parts of the country. The government has not introduced a cash response.
This analysis focuses on pre-COViD-19 expenditures and does not directly address or reflect the impact of COViD-19. However, the analysis exposes the underlying structural issues in the policy, design, and delivery of social protection that limit the mobilization of programs and systems toward shock response in a crisis such as COViD-19. The recommendations are geared toward strengthening the system for building resilience and readiness for response in the medium term.
Availability and quality of data, as well as the small
sample size of the primary data collection, limited some of
the analysis presented. Lack of disaggregated program-level
allocation and expenditure data constrained the analysis of
trends before and after the transition to federal structure. The
quality of expenditure data and the level of disaggregation
available also limit the analysis, particularly in chapter
3. The small sample size for the field visit also precludes
generalizations from their analysis presented, particularly in
chapter 4.
The report is structured as follows, with each chapter concluding
with a set of recommendations based on the analysis.
n Chapter 2. Provides an overall analysis of social
protection expenditure trends, an assessment of ability
of social assistance programs to address various sources
of risks and vulnerability, an analysis of fiscal implications
of reforms based on simulations and projections, and
a discussion of policy and procedural challenges to
improve coordination and coherence in program design
and delivery.
n Chapter 3. Assesses the policy and institutional
framework for design and delivery of social protection
programs in the decentralized federal context and
analyzes the trends in distribution of budget allocations
of main social assistance programs and expenditures at
the local level from equity and efficiency perspectives.
n Chapter 4. Provides an overview of planning, budgeting,
fund flow, and reporting processes for social protection
programs at federal, province, and local levels and
analyzes the challenges and bottlenecks in the processes
as related to institution, systems, and capacities.
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Figure 2: Social Protection Expenditures (Nominal, NPR, billions)
Source: Red Book, Ministry of Finance (MOF), various years.
This chapter aims to provide an overview of expenditure
trends in social protection in Nepal (including social
insurance, social assistance, and labor market programs as
defined in Chapter 1) over the past decade and an assessment
of the design, coverage, and adequacy of the existing social
assistance program portfolio in addressing various sources of
risks and vulnerabilities. The chapter also reviews the policy
and procedural changes which could improve coordination
and coherence in the design and delivery of programs. The
chapter then presents the results from simulations made
to understand whether there is sufficient fiscal space in
the medium term to improve the coverage of the poor and
vulnerable. Finally, the chapter concludes with selected
recommendations.
2.1 Analysis of Trends and Levels of Budget and ExpenditureThe Government of Nepal implements a set of social protection
programs, including public sector pensions, cash and in-kind
transfers, scholarships, health benefits, and labor market
programs. The introduction of the senior citizen allowance
of NPR 100 per month to all citizens over the age of 75 in
1995 marked the beginning of large-scale social protection
programming in Nepal, although scholarships have been in
Assessment of Social Protection Programs and Trends in Expenditures
CHAPTER 2.
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Figure 3: Social Protection Expenditure as a Share of GDP
Source: Red Book, MOF, various years.
existence since the early 1970s and old-age homes have existed
since the 1880s. Social protection programs have evolved
and expanded over the years, with a marked increase with
the ushering in of a new post-conflict government in 2008.
Programs have mainly focused on addressing vulnerability
associated with life cycle and social risks, rather than economic
poverty. A full list of programs with basic description, coverage,
and FY19 expenditure is in annex 1.
2.1.1 Overall ExpenditureThe Government of Nepal spends a substantial and
increasing amount on SP. Expenditure on SP has continued
to expand both in nominal terms and as a share of GDP over
the last decade, reaching nearly 3.5 percent of gross domestic
product (GDP) in FY19 from about 1.9 percent in FY10 (Figure
2 and Figure 3).3 Nominal SP expenditure has grown fivefold
over the last 10 years, reaching NPR 134.4 billion in FY19 or
11 percent of total government expenditure.4 The allocation
for FY20 was NPR 189 billion, an estimated 4.8 percent of GDP.
Assuming FY11 as the base year, real expenditure has also
increased by over three times over the subsequent 10 years.
The increase in national SP expenditure since FY17 has been
Figure 4: Social Protection Expenditure by Category, FY19
Source: Red Book, Ministry of Finance, 2020
mainly due to an increase in the size of SSA benefits and an
increase in the benefits provided as public pensions.
In terms of composition, social insurance continues to
constitute the largest share of spending, accounting for about
3 All GDP figures used are nominal.4 Excludes Government contributions to the civil servants’ Employee Provident Fund which are presented as part of the wage bill in the Red Book. Including these
contributions would increase total SP expenditure to NPR 146 billion, 4.2 percent of GDP.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
5 Household Risk and Vulnerability Survey (HRVS). 6 Employees with 5–10 years of service are paid one-half of their last monthly salary for each year of service; those with 10–15 years of service are paid one time their
monthly salary for each year of service; and those with 15–20 years of service are paid one-and-a-half times their last monthly salary for each year of service.7 Estimate from NLFS III.
56 percent of the total SP expenditure in FY19 (Figure 4). Social
assistance constituted 41 percent of the expenditure in the same
year. Labor market spending remained low, accounting for only 3
percent of the total SP expenditures in FY19.
Altogether, social protection programs serve over 10.5
million beneficiaries. Social insurance programs cover over
3.7 million beneficiaries (including 250,000 individuals under
the public sector pensions and 2.7 million individuals under
the health insurance scheme). Social assistance programs cover
over 6.8 million individuals, and labor market programs cover
about 0.2 million individuals. Some individuals or households
could be benefiting from multiple programs when they present
multiple vulnerabilities, although evidence suggests this is rare
across social assistance programs.5 in total, programs directly
serve over 10.5 million individuals. This represents about one-
third of Nepal’s population. The Government of Nepal’s 15th
five-year plan aims at increasing government spending on
social protection to 13.5 percent of the budget and covering 60
percent of the population by the end of FY25 (including both
social assistance and social insurance programs).
2.1.2 Social InsuranceSocial insurance, mainly comprising public sector
pensions, accounted for about 56 percent of total SP
expenditure or 2 percent of GDP in FY19. Total social
insurance expenditure in FY19 was NPR 75.4 billion,
excluding the Government’s contributions as the employer
for civil servants to the Employee Provident Fund (typically
considered part of the wage bill). including the Government’s
contributions to the Employee Provident Fund (NPR
11.7 billion) would increase the share of social insurance
expenditure in total SP expenditure to 60 percent.
Pensions are paid to former government employees, the
army, the police, and teachers, covering over 250,000
individuals. Pensions consist of defined benefit pension
and gratuity paid based on the number of years in service.
individuals must serve a minimum of 20 years to be eligible
for pensions, and the mandatory retirement age is 58
years. Civil servants with a minimum of five years of service
are also entitled to a gratuity.6 They also receive benefits
for accumulated leave and medical facility. Government
employees who are not civil servants, such as those working
in various boards and special programs, also receive gratuity
and other benefits.
Public pension expenditure has seen a few dramatic
spikes over the last decade. The first was in FY09 when
pension expenditure more than doubled from NPR 5.7 billion
to 13.7 billion. This was primarily driven by the Government’s
decision to implement a voluntary retirement scheme with
financial incentives (a Golden Handshake) for civil servants.
About 5,500 individuals retired in 2009 and received a lump
sum equal to 7 years of pension, costing the treasury over
0.5 percent of GDP. Pension expenditures then declined for
a few years. The subsequent large increases resulted from
civil service salary increases, with an increase in the basic pay
scale by 18 percent in FY14 (Budget Speech, July 14, 2013)
and by 25 percent in FY17 (Budget Speech, May 28, 2016).
As pensions are pegged to salaries, this led to an increase
in pension expenditure by nearly NPR 5 billion in FY14 and
over NPR 9 billion in FY17. The pegging means that pension
expenditure can be expected to increase when salaries are
adjusted to reflect inflation.
While public sector pension is the largest social protection
expenditure, it only provides benefits to about 1 percent
of the population.7 According to the Pension Management
Office, 250,089 individuals received a pension at the end
of FY19, in line with the estimated population coverage.
Pensioners are overwhelmingly urban and male and belong
to the richer quintiles (Figure 5): 68 percent of pensioners
belonged to the richest two quintiles (only 6 percent lived in
the poorest quintile), 68 percent were urban dwellers, and 76
percent were male.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Public sector pensions had been fully financed from
annual budget appropriations until FY19. in March 2019,
the Government approved legislation to create the Pensions
Fund which would collect contributions from employees
and the Government as the employer, applicable to all
new recruits into the civil service. Existing civil servants
will continue to be covered by previous provisions. This
should ease the fiscal burden in the long term. However, in
the medium term, the burden will increase as the budget
will have to cover both defined benefit pensions for
current retirees and recruits before 2019 as well as defined
contributions to the Pensions Fund for the new recruits.
Reviewing the retirement age could alleviate fiscal
pressures in the long run. The retirement age for civil
servants was recently increased from 58 to 60 years. With
increasing life expectancy and since many individuals remain
active in the labor market between the age of 60 and 70, the
retirement age could be further increased, in line with the age
of eligibility for senior citizen allowance currently set at 70 for
most seniors.
In FY20, the Government launched the SSF schemes
to expand the coverage of contributory pensions and
insurance schemes to all workers, beyond civil servants.8
The four schemes are (a) medical, health, and maternity
benefit; (b) accident and disability benefit; (c) dependent
family benefit; and (d) old-age benefit. The rollout of the
SSF schemes has been challenging with only 12,709 firms
with 174,704 individuals registered and NPR 87 million in
contributions collected as of September 30, 2020. While these
schemes should not burden the Government treasury by
design, the Contributory Social Security Act has provisions
which could make the Government liable to pay the matching
contribution for self-employed workers and those in the
informal sector.
Nepal also has a National Health Insurance Scheme
which is currently available to households in 51 districts
(530 local levels) across the country.9 The program is meant
to be rolled out to cover all households nationwide. As of
September 20, 2020, over 3 million individuals were enrolled
in the program according to the health insurance dashboard.
8 SSF has been collecting 1 percent of the income deducted from payroll since 2012 before these schemes were announced. 9 The health insurance program has been rolled out to 75 of the 77 districts in June 2021.
Figure 5: Distribution of Pensioners across Quintiles and by Gender and Location
Source: Authors’ estimates based on NLFS iii
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
A household with five members pays an annual premium
of NPR 3,500 for coverage of up to NPR 100,000. While the
scheme is contributory by design, the Government plans to
finance the premium for poor households and individuals
over 70 years of age. The payouts so far, at NPR 4.33 billion,
far exceed the premium collected at NPR 3.13 billion,
highlighting the potential fiscal impact of the scheme.10
2.1.3 Social AssistanceSocial assistance programs constituted about 41 percent
of the total SP expenditure and 1.4 percent of GDP in
FY19. Estimates suggest that 35.5 percent households
were covered by social assistance programs in 2018.11 The
SSA, managed by the Department of National iD and Civil
Registration (DONiDCR) under the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MOHA), is the largest social assistance program. it cost NPR
41.2 billion in FY19 and constituted around 48 percent of
the total social assistance spending. The five SSA schemes
(senior citizen allowance, single women allowance, disability
allowance, endangered ethnicity allowance, and child grant)
Source: DONiDCR.
Figure 6: SSA Beneficiaries over the Last 10 Years
cover nearly 3 million individuals and their households, with
benefits ranging from NPR 400 to NPR 3,000 a month.
The SSA program has expanded steadily over the years
to cover a larger number of people. Figure 6 and Figure 7
show the evolution of total benefits and beneficiaries. The
number of SSA beneficiaries nearly doubled in FY09 from
about half a million the year before, and the expenditure
increased almost fourfold to NPR 4.2 billion from under NPR
1 billion. This was mainly due to the lowering of the age of
eligibility for senior citizens to 60 years for Dalits and Karnali
residents and from 75 years to 70 years for other senior
citizens. By FY16, the expenditure had reached NPR 16 billion,
which more than doubled in the following year as all benefit
amounts were doubled. in FY20, the allocation increased to
NPR 64.5 billion as all benefits except the child grant were
increased by NPR 1,000. Figure 7 shows the gradual evolution
of SSA expenditure. Assuming FY11 as the base year, real
expenditure has also increased over fourfold since FY11.
10 Total public expenditure on the program in FY19 was NPR 2.7 billion (out of an allocated NPR 6 billion). So far, collected premiums have been saved in an account, and the Government budget has been used to finance payouts on claims.
11 Estimates in Walker, Kawasoe, and Shrestha (2019) from the HRVS.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Program DescriptionBeneficiaries
(in millions,FY19)12
Expenditure (in NPR, millions, FY19)
SSAs Cash transfers to senior citizens, single women, those with disability, endangered ethnicity, and children
3.1 (FY20) 41,150
Scholarships Scholarship to Dalits, girls, those with disability, conflict affected, martyr’s children, freed Kamalari, and other groups
3.2 2,900
Midday Meals Midday meal in schools to improve nutrition among school-going children in early childhood development (ECD) to Grade 5
1.3 2,935
Safe Motherhood Program (Aama Surakshya Karyakram)
Cash incentives to mothers to deliver at health facilities 0.43 (FY18) 1,080
Poor Citizens Medical Treatment Fund (Bipanna Nagarik Aushadhi Upachar Kosh)
Medical expenses up to NPR 100,000, for poor citizens, for treatment of specified diseases
0.02 (FY18) 1,102
PMEP Minimum employment guarantee 0.06 3,100
Table 2: Key Social Assistance Programs
12 Beneficiary figures are for FY19 unless stated otherwise. 13 The PMEP is considered a social assistance scheme in this report as the initial activities have been focused on providing cash for work and subsistence allowance to the
unemployed although it has elements of labor market programs in its scope.
Figure 7: Nominal and Real SSA Expenditure over the Last 10 Years
Source: Red Book, MOF, various years.
Other key social assistance programs include scholarships
and midday meals under the Ministry of Education, Science
and Technology (MOEST); health schemes under the Ministry
of Health and Population (MOHP); and the new PMEP under
the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security
(MOLESS).13 Table 2 lists the key programs. Figure 8 shows
the evolution of key programs; the total social assistance
expenditure is shown at the top of each column.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Figure 8: Evolution of Key Social Assistance Program Expenditures (Nominal and as Share of GDP)
Source: Red Book, MOF, various years and program reports.Note: KEP = Karnali Employment Program.
program supported by the World Food Programme (WFP)
in FY19.16 The midday meals are costed at an average of
NPR 15 per meal per day provided each day throughout
the school year.
The Safe Motherhood Program aimed at increasing
institutional deliveries and spent over NPR 1 billion in
FY19. The allocation for FY20 is NPR 1.9 billion. The program
provides cash incentives for women to visit health facilities
for four antenatal care visits and deliver at health facilities
and for one postnatal visit. The incentive for delivery is NPR
1,000, NPR 2,000, and NPR 3,000, respectively, for Terai,
Hills, and Mountains. in addition to the cash incentive for
mothers, the program covers the reimbursement to facilities
for institutional delivery (normal, assisted, and surgical),
emergency referrals including air lifting, blood transfusion,
abortion, and free sick newborn care. According to the
Department of Health Services (DOHS) annual report, it
covered 425,000 women in FY18.
14 Details on each scheme are in annex 1. 15 Children belonging to 26 endangered and marginalized groups 16 The midday meal program was rolled out nationwide in FY21.
Scholarships and midday meal programs under the
MOEST spent NPR 5.8 billion in FY19. The scholarships
covered about 3.2 million beneficiaries in FY19. Of these,
about 2.9 million were students at the basic level and
about 0.2 million at the secondary level. A few thousand
students benefited from scholarships at the tertiary level.
According to the ministry’s Scholarships Guidelines 2074,
there are 15 types of scholarships including five residential
scholarships. The value of scholarships ranges from NPR
400 to NPR 40,000 per year.14 The scholarships are aimed at
enhancing gender equity and inclusion in access to basic
education and are mainly targeted to girls, Dalits, those
with disabilities, and the marginalized.15 New categories
were introduced post conflict to cover newly recognized
vulnerable groups and the conflict affected. The midday
meal program aimed at improving the nutritional status,
class attendance, and learning capacity and covered
over 1.3 million children in 44 districts (435 local levels),
including 11 districts under the Food for Education
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
The MOHP also manages the Poor Citizens Medical
Treatment Fund (Bipanna Nagarik Aushadhi Upachar Kosh)
which spent NPR 1.1 billion in FY19. The fund reimburses health
facilities for the treatment of poor individuals for expenses
up to NPR 100,000 for the treatment of the following severe
diseases: cardiovascular diseases, kidney failure, cancer,
Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, spinal and head injury, and sickle cell
anemia. Eligible individuals are either those belonging to a
household identified as poor by the Poor Household Support
Coordination Board or the poor upon recommendation of the
local-level recommendation committee.
The PMEP is a national program launched in FY19 aimed
at providing 100 days of employment or a subsistence
allowance in the absence of minimum employment to
unemployed adults. it aims to operationalize the right to
employment enshrined in the constitution. PMEP is considered
social assistance instead of a labor market program here
as it is essentially a cash-for-work program targeted to the
working poor although it has elements of a labor market
Figure 9: Social Assistance Expenditure, as a Share of GDP
Source: World Bank, ASPiRE database, State of Safety Nets 2018.
program. Expenditure in FY19 was NPR 3.1 billion while the
FY20 allocation is just over NPR 5 billion. The KEP and RCiW, the
predecessors to PMEP, have been discontinued.
Many smaller social assistance programs are scattered
across several ministries. Altogether, they amounted to NPR
2.2 billion or 4 percent of the total SP expenditure in FY19. These
include old-age homes and orphanages under the MOWCSC;
post-conflict transfers to the martyred and disappeared, now
under the MOHA; a poverty alleviation program called the Garib
Sanga Bisweshwor under the Ministry of Land Management,
Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation (MOLCPA); People’s
Residence Program (Janata Awas Karyakram) under the Ministry
of Urban Development (MOUD); and the public food distribution
system under the Ministry of industry, Commerce and Supplies.
Nepal spends a higher share of its GDP on social
assistance than other countries in the region but at par
with global averages. Within South Asia, Nepal spends more
than the region’s average of 0.9 percent of GDP, itself the
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
17 Expenditure data are not available for many programs for FY19. For the rest of the analysis, expenditure is assumed to be equal to allocation.18 Details on each program are listed in annex 1.
lowest spending of any region in the world (Figure 9). Nepal’s
expenditure is at par with the average in lower-middle-
income countries (1.4 percent of GDP) and just below the
average for all developing countries (1.5 percent of GDP).
Budget execution rates for the large programs are
high, partly because most programs are purely cash
transfers, with little capital expenditure and virtually
no administrative expenditure allocated. Budgets for the
SSAs, scholarships, and midday meals budgets only include
the transfer amounts, with no administrative budget. The SSA
program has execution rates close to 100 percent, sometimes
exceeding 100 percent of the initial allocation owing to
additional allocations during the year. The KEP, which had
some administrative and capital budgets, had expenditure
rates over 90 percent. The safe motherhood program’s
expenditure rates have remained over 80 percent. Execution
rates in scholarships and midday meal programs have varied
more but stayed over 80 percent in most years. Food for
education and RCiW have seen less regularity. Figure 10
shows the execution rates over the last few years.17
2.1.4 Labor Market ProgramsSpending on labor market programs is very low and only
represents about 3 percent of total SP expenditure. Labor
market programs have largely focused on providing short-term
skill training courses with some attention to entrepreneurship.
One major ongoing program is the EVENT ii project, which aims
to provide market-relevant skills trainings and apprenticeships
to 121,000 youth including migrants, by July 2022 in its
second phase. Enhanced Skills for Sustainable and Rewarding
Employment (ENSSURE) supports youth for improved
employability and increased standard of living through
apprenticeship, short training including on-the-job training
(OJT), and further training for those already employed. These
programs mainly cater to urban and peri-urban areas.
The YSEF provides collateral-free loans of up to NPR 500,000
for self-employment activities in commercial agriculture,
agro-industries, and the service sector. The YSEF has supported
about 73,000 individuals since its inception in 2008 and had a
budget of NPR 175 million in FY19.18 in addition, the Women
Entrepreneurship Development Fund under the Ministry of
Figure 10: Budget Execution Rates
Source: Red Book, MOF, various years.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
industry, Commerce and Supplies helps female entrepreneurs
access collateral-free credit for enterprise growth. The fund began
operation in 2015 and has covered only a few hundred individuals.
There is also the President’s Women Upliftment Program under
the MOWCSC which is aimed at improving women’s livelihoods
through empowerment and entrepreneurship support which
includes grant for income-generating activities in agriculture,
tourism, or non-agriculture sector; awareness-raising activities
about early marriage, witchcraft, violence against women
(VAW), and so on; and skills training.
The PMEP also has elements of labor market programs in
its scope, although the initial efforts have been focused
on providing cash for work and subsistence allowance to
the unemployed. The Employment Service Centers (ESCs)
established at each local level under the PMEP are mandated to
provide outreach; registration of the unemployed; profiling and
referral to relevant jobs; and employment promotion services
including skill training, apprenticeship, self-employment, and
enterprise development support. in addition, there are also
livelihood promotion programs such as the Microenterprise
Development and Poverty Alleviation (MEDPA).
2.2 Ability of Social Assistance Programs to Address Risks and VulnerabilitiesWhat does expenditure on social assistance achieve? This
section and the next will attempt to analyze what 1.4 percent
of GDP in FY19 (estimated 2.2 percent in FY20) spent on social
assistance achieves. This section focuses on analyzing whether
the main social assistance programs are in line with existing
vulnerabilities, while the next section will focus on whether
the programs’ benefits—cash, in-kind and services—are
commensurate with the issues that they are designed to address.
Though limited by data availability, the analysis suggests that while
programs address a range of vulnerabilities and have achieved
important outcomes, there are major gaps and challenges:
� Existing programs do not address all risks and
vulnerabilities comprehensively or adequately, by design.
Risks associated with poverty and health shocks are not
adequately covered. indeed, few programs explicitly
target the economically poor or aim to reduce poverty.
� important coverage gaps remain among those eligible
for existing programs, mainly due to implementation
challenges.
� Current programs are not designed with the flexibility to
be scaled up in response to shocks.
� Geographic disparities are only partially addressed by
existing programs.
� Spending is skewed toward the elderly, and little is spent
on early years.
� investments in productive inclusion and labor market
programs are limited.
� Programs are not coordinated around shared human
capital objectives. They focus on singular interventions
and do not complement cash transfers to promote
investment in human capital.
� The lack of coordination has led to some duplications.
2.2.1 PovertyWhile poverty declined significantly in Nepal in the
2000s, a quarter of the population remained poor in
2011. The national headcount poverty rate according to
NLSS iii (2010–11) was 25 percent. Poverty rate varies across
geography, being highest in Sudurpaschim Province (46
percent) and Karnali Province (39 percent) and lowest in
Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces (21 percent, Figure 11). The
multidimensional poverty index (MPi) is highest in Karnali
Province (51 percent) followed by Province 2 (48 percent)
and lowest in Bagmati Province (12 percent). Having young
children is associated with higher poverty (households with
more than three children under the age of 6 have a poverty
incidence of 46.6 percent, compared to 12.3 percent for those
with no children and 25.2 percent for those with one child).
Poverty is also strongly correlated with ethnicity, with Dalits
having a poverty incidence of 46.6 percent, compared to 10.2
percent for Newars. Finally, poverty rates across geography
are closely correlated with other human development
outcomes such as stunting or literacy.
A substantial share of the population is a shock away from
falling into poverty. in addition to chronic poverty, a large
percentage of Nepali households are vulnerable to shocks—
natural disasters, health, or economic shocks—which can
exacerbate poverty. Nepal ranks 138 out of 183 counties
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19 Notre Dame Global adaptation initiative country index. https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/rankings/.20 HRVS 2019. See also Ministry of Forests and Environment (2021). 21 Beyond SP programs, government subsidies on agricultural inputs and energy are not targeted to the poor either.22 HRVS 2019, panel survey covering 6,000 households in non-metropolitan areas between 2016 and 2018. It covered six regular programs—senior citizens allowance,
single women allowance, disability allowance, child grant, safe motherhood program and public works, and earthquake relief and other emergency relief. MICS 2019 suggests an improvement in the estimated coverage of households in the poorest quintiles—poorest quintile (51 percent) and second poorest quintile (43.6 percent). However, MICS also included pensions. The Child and Family Tracker Survey (CFT) of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) suggests that 21 percent of households receive SSAs—58 percent of which are old-age allowances, 29 percent widow’s allowances, and 21 percent child allowances (UNICEF 2021).
on the climate-related vulnerability index (lower is more
vulnerable).19 One-third of all households faced at least one
shock between 2016 and 2018, including floods, droughts,
and landslides.20 Affected households lost an average of 6.5
percent of assets. Poorer households were overall more likely
to report shocks, especially drought, livestock loss, disease,
and injury. The most remote households were more likely to
report flood, landslide, and agricultural shocks. Typically, such
shocks have a disproportionate impact on the poor and long-
term effects on human capital, especially for children, through
their effects on nutrition, education, and assets. While the
impacts of the COViD-19 pandemic are still unfolding, a
substantial number of vulnerable households are likely to
have fallen into poverty.
Most social assistance programs are targeted to geographic
or demographic categories, irrespective of their poverty
status, which means that many poor households are
not eligible for any assistance. Social assistance programs
Figure 11: Consumption Poverty (2011) and Multidimensional Poverty (2014)
aim to address multiple vulnerabilities including poverty,
life cycle vulnerabilities, and social exclusion. To date, Nepal
does not have a cash transfer program that is targeted at the
poor, similar to the Benazir income Support Program (BiSP)
in Pakistan or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)
in the Philippines.21 However, the 2018 Social Security Act
has a provision for a transfer to the economically poor (Social
Security Allowances for the Economically Poor [SSAEPs]) which
could address this gap. For some existing programs, some
demographic and geographic criteria for eligibility, such as
belonging to a Dalit family, are relatively strong proxies for
poverty and exclusion. However, by design, such categorical
targeting excludes the poor who do not fall into any such
categories. As a result, in 2018, less than 40 percent of the
households in the poorest two quintiles were covered by social
assistance programs (Figure 12).22 in the absence of explicit
goals for social assistance programs to reduce poverty, there is
little conversation about the impact of programs on poverty or
about exit strategies from these programs.
Consumption Poverty (2010/11) Multidimensional Poverty (2014)
Source: World Bank Staff Calculation using Nepal Living Standard Survey 2010/11
Source: Nepal National Planning Commission 2018 Multidimensional Poverty index: Analysis Towards Action
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When categorical criteria are not strongly correlated with
poverty or income, the progressivity of the programs
is limited. in rural areas, the incidence of beneficiaries of
senior citizen and single women allowances was relatively
even across asset quintiles, with between 15 percent and 17
percent of households receiving old-age pensions, as shown
in Figure 13.23 On the other hand, the child grant, by virtue
of being deployed only in the poorest districts and for all
Dalit children, is more clearly pro-poor. As a result of limited
progressivity and low benefit amounts for some categories,
analysis of NLSS iii data suggests that SSAs were responsible
for a decrease of only about 0.5 percent of the poverty
headcount in 2010–11 (given the significant increase in the
SSA benefit amounts since then, this impact can be expected
to have increased). Estimates based on AHS show that poverty
among households with at least one member eligible to
receive senior citizens allowance declined by 2.2 percentage
points when the allowance was doubled to NPR 2,000 in
Figure 13: Percentage of Rural Households Receiving Benefits, across Quintiles
Source: HRVS 2019.
23 Walker, Kawasoe, and Shrestha 2019. Based on HRVS.
Figure 12: Coverage of Social Assistance by Asset Quintile
Source: Estimations from HRVS 2019.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
2016–17.24 While the overall decline in poverty rate from
27.1 percent to 20.6 percent in 2016–17 is likely due to the
normalization of trade relations with india and recovery from
the 2015 earthquakes, the SSA is also likely to have played a
role among the receiving households. A 2020 survey similarly
showed that child grants were progressive, while old-age
allowances were regressive.25
The SSAEPs provisioned in the 2018 Social Security Act
can help address the coverage gap among the poor. The
act has added the ‘economically poor’ as a constitutionally
defined category of beneficiaries for cash transfers. This would
be the first unconditional cash transfer for the poor. The
design of this new scheme targeted to the poor would mean
that the poor who are currently not eligible for the other
transfers would become eligible to receive a benefit. About
660,000 households in the poorest asset quintile, which do
not currently have a member eligible for senior citizen or
single women allowance, would fall in this category.26 The
beneficiary identification modality and benefit amount of this
new scheme are yet to be defined.
An expansion of the PMEP, a nationwide cash-for-work
program targeted to the working age poor, could also
increase the sector’s impact on poverty. Unemployed
people have to register at ESCs at the local level to apply
for the program. Self-selection based on work requirement
is expected to result in a large share of benefits reaching
the poorest. in addition, the PMEP has criteria to prioritize
the most vulnerable in case the number of applicants
exceeds the number of days of work available. By ensuring
that beneficiaries also have access to skills training and
other services, the PMEP can also contribute to increase
beneficiaries’ productivity or employability and reduce their
reliance on public works in subsequent years. The ESCs can
also play a role in providing information about employment
as well as skill training opportunities, counseling,
intermediation, and referrals to relevant services.
Two other interventions focusing on the poor are a
scholarship scheme and the waiver on health insurance
premium. While most scholarship schemes are provided to
demographic categories, one of them is poverty targeted (it
offers poor students in Grades 9–12 an annual benefit ranging
from NPR 8,000 to NPR 24,000 depending on the course and
the grade level). However, the scheme is small and covered
only about 34,000 students in FY19. The national health
insurance scheme is designed so that premiums are waived
for households identified as poor. However, this waiver does
not cover all the poor enrolled in the scheme yet, as the
identification of poor households has only been completed
in a few areas. in addition, Nepal has decided to waive the
insurance premium also for all citizens over the age of 70,
irrespective of their poverty status. This is a different approach
to that adopted in many countries, where subsidies focus on
children since households with children tend to be poorer.
The identification of the poor and vulnerable
remains unclear, both in terms of policy and actual
implementation. This poses challenges for programs that
have an element of poverty targeting, such as the health
insurance scheme, the PMEP, or the new SSA transfer for the
economically poor. identification of the poor is a challenging
task, fraught with errors. However, the Government of
Nepal already has a process under way to identify poor
households which can be strengthened. The Poor Household
identification and Standards Section, the entity in charge of
identifying the poor under the MOLCPA, completed the listing
of poor households in 26 districts (249 local levels) in 2013.
The responsibility for data collection has now been devolved
to the local levels. As of August 2020, data collection is near
completion in 23 districts (213 local levels). in FY20, funds
for data collection have been transferred to some local levels
in these 23 districts and 15 new districts, for a total of 396
local levels in 38 districts. Data analysis to identify the poor
households remains to be completed.
24 Since the survey does not record ethnicity, Dalits of age 60–70 are not included in the estimate, which may therefore be an underestimate. 25 See UNICEF Baseline CFT, as reported in UNICEF (2021).26 Estimates based on NLFS III 2017–18.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
The Government of Nepal has committed to establishing
a social registry across the entire country, to be used by
all SP programs. The integrated social registry would store
demographic and socioeconomic data on all households, with
regular updates to ensure households’ evolving conditions
are captured. Each program could then draw from the social
registry as part of the process for the identification of its
beneficiaries, applying its own eligibility criteria.
2.2.2 Shocks and DisastersThe current social assistance programs are not designed
to be scaled up in response to shocks. Existing programs
are also not designed to support shock-affected households.
There are no contingency funds linked to any of the existing
programs. The conversation on linking social protection to
disaster risk management is a nascent one in Nepal (Ministry
of Forests and Environment 2021). Except in case of a large
covariate shock like the 2015 earthquakes where extensive
humanitarian assistance was mobilized, households do not
receive public assistance to cope with smaller but recurrent
shocks like floods or landslides (HRVS 2019).
Both the SSAs (including the proposed transfer to the
economically poor) and the PMEP can be developed into
scalable programs to respond to shocks. The SSAs and the
PMEP could be scaled up in response to COViD-19 to provide
assistance to those affected (if shocks prevent public works
from operating or expanding, as in the case of the PMEP, the
work requirement could be relaxed to provide cash transfers
even in the absence of work). Using the SSAs, including the
planned SSAEP, or the PMEP to respond to shocks could
entail both vertical expansion (whereby existing beneficiaries
receive increased benefits for a limited duration) as well as
temporary horizontal expansion of the program (whereby
new beneficiaries are temporarily added to the program) to
include non-beneficiary households affected by the shock.
Such a horizontal expansion requires robust information
systems to identify vulnerable households pre disaster and
Note: Social insurance and labor market programs are in italics. The analysis presented in this section focuses exclusively on social assistance programs.
Figure 14: Social protection Programs across the Life Cycle
Pregnancy and Early Childhood (0–5)
� Safe motherhood
program
� Child nutrition grant
� Nutrition
supplements
� SSF: Maternity benefit
Childhood and adolescence (5–15)
� Scholarships
� Midday meals
� Children’s homes
Active Age Adults
� PMEP
� Single women allowance
� Skills training programs
� SSF schemes: Medical
treatment and health;
accident and disability;
and dependent family
benefits
Elderly
� Senior citizen allowance
� Old age homes
� Public sector pensions
� Provident funds
� SSF scheme: Old age
pension
Programs across the life cycle
� Endangered ethnicities allowance Disability allowance � National health insurance Poor citizen’s medical treatment fund
People's housing programFood subsidies
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affected households post disaster. The integrated social
registry and its demographic and socioeconomic data on
households would enable a quick expansion of programs in
times of shock.
2.2.3 Vulnerabilities across the Life CycleWith the launch of the PMEP, there is at least one program
that corresponds to the vulnerabilities associated with
each stage of the life cycle, but coverage remains a
significant challenge for some of them. The challenges relate
to a combination of program design issues, implementation
failures, and/or budget constraints. As Figure 14 shows, there
are programs that are designed for individuals from pregnancy
to old age. However, two key challenges remain: first, the
coverage of all vulnerable in each stage and, second, the
adequacy of benefits provided. Coverage gaps are discussed
in this sub-section, while the adequacy of selected schemes is
analyzed in the next sub-section. The last section of this chapter
focuses on the cost that would be entailed by programs having
full coverage of all eligible individuals or households.
Overall, social assistance expenditure is heavily skewed
toward the elderly. Despite the growing consensus about
the need to invest in early years for human development
outcomes, the share of social assistance expenditure on
early childhood is only 8 percent (Figure 15A). On the other
hand, 51 percent of the total social assistance expenditure
is spent on the elderly. This bias would be even larger if one
also took contributory pensions into account: spending on
the elderly would then increase to 75 percent of the total SP
spending. Programs for the working age population, with
about 21 percent of social assistance expenditure, are also
not fully developed yet. if we contrast this with the share of
these groups in the population, the bias is striking. Children
Figure 15: Total and Per Beneficiary Social Assistance Expenditure by Life Cycle in FY1927
Source: Estimates based on Red book and program data
B. Per Beneficiary Social Assistance ExpenditureA. Total Social Assistance Expenditure
27 Programs included in the analysis are safe motherhood program, child grant, midday meals, scholarships, higher education scholarships, public works programs, single women allowance, Garib Sanga Bisweswor program, senior citizen allowance, endangered ethnicity allowance, disability allowance, poor citizen medical treatment fund, Nepal Food Corporation, people’s housing program, food subsidies, and some MOWCSC programs. Senior citizen allowance in FY19 was NPR 2,000. The difference in per capita benefit size would be starker in FY20 when the senior citizen allowance was increased to NPR 3,000 and further increased to NPR 4,000 in FY22.
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under five constitute 9 percent of the population (but receive
8 percent of expenditure) while senior citizens over 70
constitute only 4 percent of the population (but receive 51
percent of expenditure).
The low share of total expenditure on certain age groups
results partly from varying benefit sizes. Beneficiaries of
programs for pregnancy and early childhood and childhood
and adolescence constitute 65 percent of the total number
of beneficiaries but receive only 19 percent of the total
expenditure. Estimates of per capita expenditure across
life cycle in FY19 shows that senior citizens receive benefits
that are over five times those received by children below
five (Figure 15B). To illustrate the differences in benefit size,
among the SSAs, the monthly benefit of child grant is NPR 400
compared to senior citizen allowance at NPR 3,000. Similarly,
while scholarships at the basic level have a large coverage (a
2014 survey showed that 76 percent of girls and 98 percent of
Dalits received scholarships), the very low benefit level results
in a small share of expenditure allocated to this group.
The low share of total expenditure on certain age groups
results also partly from the limited coverage of some
programs, such as the child grant. For early childhood
support, some of the vulnerable are not covered by design.
For example, the child grant currently only covers all Dalit
children nationwide and all children in 25 selected districts.
it thereby excludes non-Dalit poor children in most parts of
the country. A study of 6 districts in 2019 suggested that the
child grant covered 51.5 percent of the eligible (Figure 16).28
This issue of coverage should be addressed over time, as the
program is being rolled out to other districts gradually, with
planned expansion to 11 new districts (99 local levels) in FY21.
in addition to geographic expansion, coverage could also be
increased by supporting all eligible to acquire birth certificates.
Similarly, among the SSAs, the disability grant has
particularly high rates of under-coverage. Estimates of
under-coverage in disability grant range from 13 percent
to 47 percent across surveys. According to the HRVS 2019,
which covered all non-metropolitan areas, 47 percent of
Source: Bhandary et al. 2019.Note: Total N: 3747. 95% Confidence intervals plotted. Weighted estimates The horizontal line indicates the overall average (mean=66.1%)
28 Bhandary et al. 2019. The study covered only six districts and coverage varied across the six districts.
Figure 16: Coverage of SSA among Eligible individuals by SSA type
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
individuals who have a red or a blue card certifying them
as people with profound or severe disability and therefore
eligible for the disability grant are currently not receiving the
grant. A 2019 Oxford Policy Management (OPM) survey of
6 districts estimated that 13 percent of those with blue and
red disability cards do not receive the allowance (Bhandary
et al. 2019). Given the constraints in certifying disability, the
actual under-coverage of the grant could be much higher.
The OPM study estimated that only 43.3 percent of those who
are eligible according to the assessment of functioning ability
are currently receiving the benefits. On the other hand, the
senior citizen allowance and the single women allowance are
found to reach about 85 percent of their respective eligible
population in the survey of six districts.
Ensuring all have access to legal documentation is also
critical to ensuring coverage. An estimated 6.7 million
people in Nepal do not have citizenship certificates or other
legal documentation (FWLD 2015). This lack of legal identity
can severely affect the ability of the poor and/or vulnerable
to access SP schemes (in addition to limiting access to
finance, such as opening bank accounts and accessing
loans). Similarly, many of the nearly 20,000 refugees in
Nepal are without documentation. Efforts to intensify civil
registration outreach and ensure timely issuance of legal
identity documents are critical to increase coverage of social
assistance programs to Nepal’s most vulnerable members.
Another area of concern is health shocks, which are
not covered adequately. The risk of catastrophic health
expenditures in Nepal due to an illness or injury is high, as
households bore 55 percent of total health spending directly
out of pocket in FY16 (MOHP 2018a). This is high relative
to that of countries like Thailand (12 percent), Vietnam (43
percent), and Sri Lanka (38 percent), which exhibit better health
outcomes (World Bank 2019). The national health insurance
program is supposed to cover all households nationwide
eventually; however, the coverage remains low at about 12
percent of the households nationwide. Till date, the program
has been rolled out in 51 districts. The impact of the health
insurance scheme on health-seeking behavior, out-of-pocket
expenditures, and health outcomes is yet to be studied.
Furthermore, existing programs focus on singular
interventions (for example, providing only cash, service, or
training on their own) and are implemented in isolation from
each other, which limits their impact. Most vulnerabilities
or low human capital outcomes are associated with multiple
constraints, and the most effective programs typically combine
various elements—cash transfers plus information sessions
on nutrition and care for ECD, training plus seed capital, and
so on—to address these multiple constraints. To date, most
existing programs offer only one benefit—cash, or service, or
training. in addition, for early years programs, interventions are
not coordinated with each other to ensure that a child receives
all the benefits and services for which s/he is eligible across
social protection, health, and education. This is evidenced by
starkly different coverage rates across programs. For example, 78
percent of children ages 12–23 months receive all basic vaccines
but birth registration rate of children under 24 months remains
at 40 percent.29 Mobilizing vaccination campaigns to capture
unregistered births would help increase birth registration rates.
More generally, there are currently no referral mechanisms that
would allow individuals or households to navigate between
programs, as their conditions evolve.
In addition to the lack of protection from shocks discussed
earlier, a missing element in the current mix of SP
programs is a focus on productive inclusion and resilience.
Families living in poverty and social vulnerability are more
likely to be engaged in informal jobs and/or subsistence
activities. They are likely to face multiple constraints—low
productivity, skills mismatch, limited access to information
and the jobs market, and lack of socioemotional skills—
which affects their ability to earn a decent livelihood, enter
and progress in the job market, and invest in their children.
Productive inclusion aims at addressing multiple constraints
in a comprehensive manner while enhancing income-
generating capacity of such groups. The package of such
interventions could include (a) labor intermediation and
29 Demographic and Health Survey 2016.
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activation policies, (b) activities to increase productivity of
household activities (farm and self-employment) covering
both hard and soft skills and diversify source of income,
and (c) better access to information and markets (credit
and inputs). Within the existing programs, the skills training
programs tend to be focused on urban and peri-urban areas
and often do not reach the poorest.
There is a range of livelihood programs in Nepal
implemented by the government and development
partners, which, if linked to social assistance programs,
could provide more comprehensive support to the
poor and vulnerable.30 These include schemes such as
Microenterprise Development and Poverty Alleviation
(MEDPA) and others like the Rural Self Reliance Fund, interest
subsidy on commercial agricultural loans to the youth, and
informal Sector Enterprise Development and Employment
Generation Program (ELAM). However, these are not linked to
any social assistance programs in design or implementation.
These programs could be systematically linked to programs
such as SSAs and the PMEP to provide more comprehensive
support to the poorest.
2.3 Adequacy of Benefits and Impacts of Selected Social Assistance SchemesBecause most SP programs do not have explicit goals, it is
difficult to assess both the adequacy of their benefits and
their impacts on outcomes. An analysis of five schemes (SSA,
scholarships, midday meals, safe motherhood program, and the
PMEP) shows that while that the programs have helped achieve
some outcomes, challenges stand in the way of the investments
achieving their full potential outcomes. in particular, benefit
amounts are not adequate in many cases, as discussed in this
section. Furthermore, programs typically stand alone and are not
coupled with complementary interventions that could increase
the impact of investments (see Section 2.2.3).
2.3.1 Social Security AllowancesAlthough in operation for over 20 years, the objectives
of the SSAs are not clearly defined, with the exception of
the child grant and its nutrition goal. The Social Security
Program implementation Guidelines 2075 state that the SSAs
are to provide social protection to those classes, areas, and
communities that are economically and socially behind. The
Constitution has defined the following groups as having a right
to social security: (a) economically poor, (b) senior citizens, (c)
incapacitated and helpless, (d) single women, (e) persons with
disabilities, (f ) children, (g) those who are unable to take care
of themselves, and (h) endangered ethnicities. The 2018 Social
Security Act subsequently simply defined social security as the
cash assistance provided to these groups without elaborating
the objectives of such assistance. Transfers are perceived to be
aimed at a range of things: recognition of senior citizens for
their contribution to society, improving access to other services,
income support, and so on.
Few studies have focused on the outcomes or impact
of the SSAs. Most have focused on studying coverage and
implementation processes. A 2016 study concluded that
most senior citizens perceived the allowance to be an honor
and recognition by the state and that it had improved access
to health services and boosted their dignity and their role in
family decision-making has improved (New Era 2016). The
study noted no real impact on quality of life for very poor
participants, given the limited benefit size at the time (NPR
1,000 per month for senior citizens and those with full disability
and NPR 500 for other beneficiaries at the time of the study).
The benefit amount has since been increased to NPR 2,000
per month (NPR 24,000 per year) for senior citizens and single
women and NPR 3,000 per month (NPR 36,000 per year) for
those with disability and endangered ethnicities.31 The higher
benefit amount can be expected to achieve greater impact in
terms of poverty reduction and quality of life.
The limited impact on nutrition of the child grant is likely
linked to a combination of limited coverage and low
benefit value. Figure 17 shows that while most SSA benefits
were increased significantly over time, including an NPR 1,000
increase in FY20, the child grant remains very low at NPR 400
a month. Considering inflation, this is equivalent to NPR 221
30 These livelihood programs are not considered as SP programs in this analysis.31 For reference, the current official poverty line based on NLSS III is NPR 19,261.
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32 All SSA benefits will be increased by one-third in FY22, which increases the discrepancy between child grant and senior citizen allowances.33 MICS 2019 shows an improvement in birth registration rate. The provinces with universal child grant show higher rates, Karnali Province (84.4 percent) and Sudurpaschim
(89.1 percent) compared to the national rate of 77.2 percent.
Figure 17: Evolution of SSA Monthly Benefits over the Years (Nominal)32
in FY11 NPRs. Overall, child grants beneficiaries receive only 6
percent of SSAs while comprising 25 percent of beneficiaries
(UNiCEF 2021). in most cases, the transfer only represents a
marginal contribution to household incomes. A 2015 study that
surveyed Dalit families in Bajura and Saptari districts concluded
that the grant contributed to expenditure on essential food and
non-food items (Hagen-Zanker and Mallett 2015). The grant
facilitated some improvements in dietary diversity among
the beneficiary households, enabling them to purchase more
‘desirable’ foods. it also enabled a greater number of meals
and allowed children to eat bigger portions. However, the
study also concludes that the value of the grant was too low
(NPR 200 at the time of the survey) to have a strong impact on
beneficiary households.
Besides its limited impact on nutrition, the child grant has
had positive impacts on rates of birth registration, which is
an eligibility criterion to access the grant. Birth registrations
are the highest in Karnali Province, where child grant was
universal in 5 out of the 10 districts in 2016, at 65 percent
compared to the national average of 56 percent according to
Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 2016.33 As discussed later,
however, the program could have greater impacts if combined
with other interventions promoting behavioral changes.
2.3.2 ScholarshipsThe benefit levels of scholarships vary widely across the
schemes. The scholarships for girls and Dalit children, the
two schemes that reach over 2 million beneficiaries, offer a
very small annual benefit of NPR 400 (equivalent to just NPR
33 per month). A 2015 joint review of Education for All by the
MOEST and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) noted that NPR 400 per year per child
is “helpful but hardly adequate to cover school expenses, let
alone to compensate the opportunity costs.” For the girls in
Karnali, the benefit level is increased to NPR 1,000 per year
(NPR 83 per month) in Grades 1–5 and NPR 1,500 per year (NPR
125 per month) in Grades 6–8. The benefits are much higher
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in other scholarship schemes, albeit with lower coverage, such
as those for conflict affected, martyr’s children, freed Kamalari,
and some residential scholarships.34 Overall, girls and Dalit
children in basic education constitute over 80 percent of all
scholarship beneficiaries but received less than 40 percent of
the total scholarship benefits in FY19.
Past assessments on impacts of scholarships have shown
mixed results. The impact on enrolment is found to be
significant in the years immediately following the introduction of
the schemes. According to the Project Performance Assessment
Report of Education for All, scholarships have been perceived as
having made a significant impact on access of girls, Dalits, and
Janajatis. For example, the net enrolment rate for girls increased
by 6 percentage points between 2003, when the scheme was
expanded to cover all girls, and 2005. The Gender Parity index
(GPi) in primary education has improved from 0.83 in 2003 to
0.98 in 2008, indicating significant improvement in girls’ access.
Beyond enrolment, the impact on attendance and retention
in school has been minimal, likely due to the small size of
the benefit for cases of basic education scholarships. There
is little difference between beneficiaries and other children in
terms of school attendance and promotion rates: beneficiaries
are 3.8 percent more likely to attend school than other children,
but they are only 1.2 percent more likely to get promoted
than other children.35 Scholarships also do not seem to deter
dropout rates which increase after Grade 5 all the way till Grade
10 (Flash Report 2019).
Fewer scholarship schemes are available at the secondary
level. While some schemes provide benefits from Grades 1–10
(for example, scheme for Dalit students and those with disability),
few specifically target students at the secondary level (Grades
9–12). Notably, they include the only poverty-targeted scheme
for secondary students and the scheme for poor Dalit, Chepang,
and Raute students. The former only covered 34,000 students in
FY19. Given the low net enrolment rate at the secondary level,
expanding the coverage of secondary-level scholarships could
be critical to enhance this outcome.36
2.3.3 Midday MealsThere are two models of the midday school meal program,
the Government’s cash-based program in 33 districts and
the WFP-financed food-based program in 11 districts.37
The latter covers over 1.3 million students in early childhood
education and development (ECED) and primary schools. The
average value of a meal is set at NPR 15 per child per day in
both cases, provided for 180 school days a year. A pilot study
of home-grown school feeding conducted by the WFP in
two districts - Sindhupalchok and Bardiya - concluded that
the cost per child per meal ranged from NPR 21.0 for larger
schools (over 150 children) to NPR 33.5 for smaller schools
(less than 50 children) and recommended an increase of at
least NPR 3–5 per meal.38
Midday meals are considered to have improved enrolment
and retention in school. Assessments of the Government’s
program are hard to come by, but a study suggested that
the WFP’s school meal program and its complementary
interventions have enabled better learning environment at
schools and improved attendance, retainment in school after
lunch, and some learning outcomes (WFP 2019). Absenteeism
declined over the project period, with attendance rate
increasing from 60 percent to 82 percent. With complementary
water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities, the program
has also contributed to increased health and hygiene practices,
demonstrating the value of complementary interventions. The
study reported mixed results in terms of learning outcomes,
with improvements in some areas but decline in others.
34 Conflict affected: NPR 10,000–16,000; martyr’s children: NPR 12,000–24,000; freed Kamalari: NPR 1,500–10,000.35 2014 Public Expenditure Tracking and Quantitative Service Delivery Survey. The survey also indicated that 76 percent of girls and 98 percent of Dalits receive
scholarships—reflecting universal coverage for Dalits and increased coverage for girls consistent with the Government’s recent policy to aim for universal coverage of girls scholarship.
36 The net enrolment rate declines from 92.7 percent in basic education to 46.4 percent in secondary. At higher secondary (Grades 11–12), the net enrolment rate is even lower at 24.7 percent (Flash Report 2018–19).
37 The midday meal program has been rolled out nationwide from FY21.38 This is a new approach aimed at addressing common challenges in the cash-based model including issues of meal quality, misuse of funds and delays in fund flow, and
increase in local community engagement. This involved purchasing locally produced food by linking the schools to a local agricultural cooperative (Shrestha et al. 2020).
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2.3.4 Safe Motherhood ProgramThe Safe Motherhood Program was introduced to
incentivize safe deliveries. The program, introduced in
2005, has evolved over the years to combine demand- and
supply-side payments: the maternity incentive scheme (2005),
reimbursement to health facilities in selected districts (2006,
renamed as the Safe Delivery incentive Program [SDiP]),
universal free-delivery (renamed as Safe Motherhood Program
2009), merging of the four antenatal care visits (2012), and the
merging of the free sick newborn care (2016). This is a good
example of a program which has been enhanced over time,
building on the results of regular evaluations.
The rate of institutional delivery has increased dramatically
from 18 percent in 2006 to 57 percent in 2016 and 77.5
percent in 2020.39 Supply-side improvements in the availability
of health facilities played a key role, but some of this increase
can be attributed to this program. The cumulative effect of
the maternity incentives scheme, SDiP, and Aama programs
has been an increase in the rate of facility delivery by 25.5
percentage points in Terai and 13 percentage points in hills and
mountains.40 This is likely to be due to easier access to facilities
in Terai compared to more remote hills and mountains, although
institutional delivery rates, particularly in Province 2, remain low.
Around the same time, the maternal mortality ratio in Nepal
declined from 281 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in
2006 to 239 in 2010 (after a dramatic decrease from 850 in 1990).
Disparities in the rates of facility delivery across provinces
and quintiles remain. Only 36 percent of women in the
bottom quintile deliver at facilities, compared to over 90
percent among those in the top quintile; only 38 percent of
women in Karnali Province deliver in facilities, compared to
73 percent in Bagmati Province.41 Further improvement in
access will therefore require greater attention to access by the
poor and in remote areas, with a focus on behavior change
communication. The benefit size, doubled in FY19, varies
according to geography to reflect the higher costs in remote
areas: NPR 3,000 in mountain, NPR 2,000 in hill, and NPR 1,000
in Terai areas. The benefit is likely to be insufficient to cover all
costs families incur in getting to a health facility, but transfer to
mothers is meant to cover only part of the transport costs.
2.3.5 Prime Minister’s Employment ProgramThe PMEP benefits are higher than those of other programs,
but their receipt is conditioned on work. A beneficiary working
for 100 days in the year would receive a total benefit of NPR
51,700 at the current minimum wage in FY21. in the absence
of work, the program guarantees an income of minimum of 50
days’ worth of wages or NPR 25,850 per year. This represents 58
percent of the 2011 annual poverty line of NPR 19,261, assuming a
household size of 4.6. The program could have significant impacts
on the income and poverty status of the poorest. impacts have
not yet been assessed since the program is only in its third year.
The relatively high benefits will make covering all those eligible
a challenge, as illustrated by the fact that 1.2 million individuals
registered in FY20, but the budget allocated for wages under the
program was sufficient to cover only 60,000 individuals. in FY21,
over 750,000 individuals have registered as unemployed while the
budget is sufficient to cover only 200,000 individuals.
2.4 Policy Coherence, Coordination, and Complementarity of Interventions2.4.1 Policy Clarity and CoherenceNepal does not have a single overarching policy
framework or institution to guide SP policies and
programs. in the absence of an overarching policy and
institutional framework, SP programs have emerged from
annual budget speeches over the years in an ad hoc manner.
The SSA was announced in the 1995 budget speech and
expanded in successive years. The legal basis for these
programs was finally provided by the 2018 Social Security
Act. Many other laws have been passed in the last two years,
including the Contribution-based Social Security Act 2017 and
the Right to Employment Act 2019. However, these laws do
not refer to each other or complement each other to provide
39 DHS 2016 and Central Bureau of Statistics 2020.40 Ensor, Bhatt, and Tiwari (2017), based on the analysis of three rounds of National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) (2001, 2006, and 2011).41 Aryal et al. 2016, 20. Based on Nepal DHS 2016.
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a comprehensive protection for the poor and vulnerable.
With few exceptions, these programs operate independently
without policy or operational links to each other.
The lack of policy coherence has also led to some
duplications, including in health-related social protection
schemes and public works. indeed, in addition to the
national health insurance program meant to cover all
households, the SSF includes medical treatment and health
schemes meant to cover all workers. These two schemes
overlap in terms of target groups but have different premiums
and cover different levels of expenditure: the national health
insurance offers coverage of up to NPR 100,000 for a premium
of NPR 3,500 for a family of five while the SSF scheme covers
expenses up to NPR 100,000 for a contribution of 0.7 percent
of individual workers’ salary.42 Furthermore, in addition to
the full subsidy of the national health insurance premium for
the poor and those over the age of 70, poor households can
also get support from the Poor Citizen Medical Treatment
Fund. And citizens over the age of 70 also receive the monthly
medical treatment allowance of NPR 1,000. Citizens over the
age of 70 therefore get NPR 12,000 in cash plus insurance
coverage up to NPR 100,000. For cash-for-work programs,
while RCiW has been discontinued, Karnali Province has
initiated the Chief Minister Employment Program similar to
PMEP in its design.
Coordination across programs could also help simplify
program administration while ensuring increased coverage.
For example, the process of enrolment into senior citizens
allowance program could serve as a point of enrolment for the
health insurance program for the elderly. This would ensure that
about 85 percent of the senior citizens would be covered by health
insurance. Such coordination would require robust program
management information systems (MiSs) that are interoperable.
An integrated social registry could serve as a shared instrument for
data collection on households conditions and for the identification
of beneficiaries of various programs (Box 3). This would also enable
better monitoring of programs and an analysis of the extent to
which risks and vulnerabilities are covered.
Finally, the limitations of this analysis highlight that
mechanisms for program monitoring and evaluation
need to be strengthened. Currently, systemic monitoring
of programs, outcomes, and impact is weak, and external
monitoring and evaluation is ad hoc. Finding accurate and
reliable data is challenging: administrative data, particularly
data on beneficiaries, are not very reliable and sometimes
inconsistent. Allocating resources for administrative expenses
and strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems are
essential steps to improve the sector and maximize its impacts.
To provide Nepal with a strong basis for an efficient and
effective SP system, it is critical to adopt a social protection
framework. Such a framework, with clearly defined objectives,
strong institutional mechanisms, and instruments can provide
clarity on the objectives of investment in SP and promote
coordination and efficiency across programs. A committee led
by the National Planning Commission is currently finalizing a
draft for the SP framework.
2.4.2 Coordinating Interventions and Ensuring Transitions across ProgramsWhile Nepal has deployed a range of programs aimed at
addressing vulnerabilities across the life cycle, there is no
mechanism to help individuals access relevant programs or
progress from one to another. Ensuring a smooth transition
from one program to the other is an essential part of a strong
SP system, allowing households or individuals to enroll in
programs which are relevant for their situation during their
life cycle. For example, there could be a mechanism to ensure
that a beneficiary of Safe Motherhood Program systematically
or automatically registers her child’s birth. Ensuring that all
children born in health facilities have their births registered
through coordination between the health facilities and the
ward offices would then help registered children avail other
benefits and services. Mechanisms could also ensure that
child grant beneficiaries also attend early childhood care and
education and get their vaccinations. Particularly in the early
years, coordination across health, education, and SP to deliver
an integrated package of programs could improve human
42 The total contribution to SSF is 31 percent which is divided as follows: old-age pensions (28.33 percent); accident and disability (1.40 percent); dependent family security (0.27 percent); and medical, health, and maternity (0.7 percent on medical and 0.3 percent on maternity).
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Box 3: Potential Role of Social Registry in Nepal to improve Coordination across Programs
Globally, social registries are increasingly used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of social programs and services. Social registries are ”information systems that support outreach, intake, registration, and determination of potential eligibility for one or more social programs” (Leite et al. 2017). As an information system, they include information on individuals and household levels that may be used by multiple programs to identify and assess the eligibility of their target beneficiaries. As gateways to multiple programs, social registries also play the role of an inclusion system to help coordinate the delivery of complementary benefits and services to (often common) target population groups. Social registries aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of multiple programs and as such provide a framework for increased coordination across programs.
The delivery of social protection programs in Nepal remains fragmented, relying on information systems that are themselves at different levels of development. The lack of a broader policy framework to coordinate across federal agencies and the lack of clarity on interoperability and data-sharing provisions between programs both limit the potential for coordination. However, the decentralization of most program delivery responsibilities to local levels provides an opportunity to better integrate and coordinate between programs. This in turn can help increase
the coverage of programs which target similar population groups. Social registries can play an important role in this regard. They would, for example, help households identified as poor sign up for health insurance subsidy or secondary school scholarships. Or they could link the registration of a birth in a household to the eligibility assessment and registration process of programs such as child grants, vaccinations, or early childhood development programs, as the child progresses through the early years.
The Government has taken the initiative to explore the policy and institutional frameworks needed to set up and operationalize a social registry. it is also building the foundations of a social registry, by linking individual-level identification data with household-level socioeconomic data collected at the local level, and developing a platform for the SSA program to identify its beneficiaries. The Government aims to progressively link the national social registry platform to various administrative and program information systems, gradually building a dynamic national social registry that enables the coordination and monitoring of programs across agencies and government levels. This calls for a long-term ‘whole-of-government’ approach that prioritizes moving the country toward a digitized, coordinated, and effective delivery system for social services and provides the policy and fiscal space to continue investment toward realizing this vision.
capital outcomes. Gains in coverage could be substantial: for
example, 78 percent of children ages 12–23 months receive
all basic vaccines, but birth registration rate of children under
24 months remains at 40 percent. Mobilizing vaccination
campaigns to capture unregistered births would help increase
birth registration rates. The devolution of most of these
programs to the local level, in addition to the role local levels
play in the implementation of the federal programs, offers great
opportunity to improve coordination.
The importance of coordination of interventions is also
essential to boost impacts. in the case of the child grant,
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Box 4: Cash Transfer Programs as Mechanisms to Promote investment in Human Capital
Cash transfer programs have become popular over the past two decades. While there are important differences in implementation across countries, some programs share one important feature: they encourage beneficiaries to adopt positive behaviors. They typically aim to promote school attendance, improve nutrition practices, or encourage regular immunization and health care visits. Some programs in Africa also focus on civil registration, ECD, hygiene, and sanitation by linking across various programs or adding messaging.
While some programs do not impose strict conditions but communicate strongly around specific behaviors, others monitor the adoption of certain behavior or the use of services and impose penalties. integrating conditions must consider supply-side constraints in provision of services and be designed in a way that does not exclude particular groups. A few examples are listed in the table below.
Country Program Description
Burkina Faso Burkin-Nong-SayaThe program requires participation in social and behavioral change communication activities related to nutrition and ECD.
Sierra Leone Social Safety Net Program
The program provides messages focused on human capital, particularly maternal and child health. COViD-19 pushed these messages to be conveyed through a series of communication campaigns (posters, radio discussions, and so on), and the Government of Sierra Leone is piloting a decentralized model of delivery of workshops (by training local community members). Listening to the messages (or participating in workshop) is not mandatory to receive the transfer.
SenegalProgramme National de Bourses de Sécurité Familiale (PNBSF)
The program explicitly specifies three conditions around school attendance, vaccination, and birth registration. However, these are not monitored. instead, the program uses the participation in promotion sessions as a condition for the receipt of transfers.
KenyaCash transfer of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Program
The program encourages orphans and vulnerable children’s attendance in primary school and visits to health centers for immunizations and other interventions. it encourages compliance but does not apply penalties for noncompliance. However, despite the absence of penalties, 84 percent of beneficiaries believe they must follow rules to continue receiving payments.
TanzaniaProductive Social Safety Net (PSSN) Program
The program imposes conditions on the use of health care and education services. To monitor compliance, data from health centers and schools are entered into the program MiS, and payments are made every two months. Compliance is tracked after the first payment cycle. Penalties are deducted from the subsequent payment cycle.
Rwanda
Nutrition Sensitive Direct Support (NSDS), part of the Vision 2020 Umurenge Program (VUP)
NSDS aims at incentivizing intake of essential health and nutrition services during early years. Co-responsibilities are (a) attending all antenatal care during pregnancy, (b) attending all recommended postnatal care, and (c) taking children to all recommended growth monitoring and promotion sessions. Noncompliance is monitored. Noncompliant households are visited and encouraged/advised to comply. Persistent noncompliance may result in payments being suspended as the last course of action.
Brazil Bolsa Familia Program
The program explicitly specifies three conditions around school attendance, vaccination, and prenatal care. To monitor compliance, data from school’s attendance are entered into the program MiS every two months. Health centers report the information every six month. Payments are made every month. Compliance is tracked after the first payment cycle. Penalties are deducted from the subsequent payment cycle.
Philippines4Ps Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT)
The program explicitly specifies conditions around the use of maternal/child health services, school attendance, and participation of monthly Family Development Sessions (FDS)—child health monitoring (0–5 years), deworming pills (1–14 years) day care or pre-school (3–4 years), and school attendance (5–18 years). Compliance is monitored at health and education facilities as well as FDS meetings. Noncompliance would incur corresponding deduction from grants after a temporary suspension.
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for instance, information dissemination around the grant
has contributed to better nutrition and hygiene behavior.
Children of beneficiary households were found to be 11
percent more likely to receive vitamin A and to be dewormed
compared to non-recipients (Hagen-Zanker and Mallett 2015).
While the impact of unconditional cash transfers on children’s
nutritional status in five Karnali districts was not significant,
a ‘cash plus’ approach adding complementary interventions
including behavior change communication, awareness about
birth registration, and hygiene and sanitation, along with the
cash, yielded some positive results (Renzhao et al. 2019).
Cash transfer programs could achieve more impact
by adding accompanying measures to promote the
adoption of good practices in nutrition, early childhood
development, and education. They could also stimulate
the use of specific basic services by encouraging or
requiring health care visits, growth monitoring sessions,
or school attendance. These mechanisms used to promote
positive behavior or service use can include requirements
to participate in promotion sessions and to conform
with desirable behaviors, with or without verification of
compliance and with or without sanctions for noncompliance.
Box 4 elaborates how cash transfer programs can serve as
mechanisms to promote investment in human capital by
integrating such other elements.
Similarly, the delivery systems established for the PMEP—
particularly the ESCs—could add value by promoting
access to elements of productive inclusion. Productive
inclusion initiatives aim to address multiple constraints
this group faces—low productivity, skills mismatch, limited
access to information and the jobs market, and lack of
socioemotional skills. Cash for work could integrate skills
training, both hard and soft skills.43 Looking beyond cash
for work, the ESCs can provide a range of services to the
unemployed or underemployed—ensure better access to
information on employment and training programs, provide
referrals, and facilitate access to market.
2.5 Analysis of Fiscal Implications of Social Assistance ReformsA series of simulations helps assess the fiscal implications
of social assistance reforms in Nepal. As described earlier,
social assistance expenditure has increased from 0.9 percent
to nearly 1.4 percent of GDP between FY09 and FY19,
with allocations for FY20 at 2.2 percent of GDP. it is critical
to rigorously project expenditure in the future to inform
planning and policy reforms. This section analyzes how the
overall cost of social assistance programs could change over
the next 10 years under different scenarios. The baseline
scenario (scenario A) assumes that existing programs
maintain their current coverage rates and that benefit levels
are indexed to inflation.
We present a series of scenarios that seek to address
the two key challenges identified in the analysis: the
inadequate investments in children and the limited
coverage of the poor and limited impact on poverty.
The scenarios simulate in turn the expansion of the child
grant in benefit size and coverage, the expansion of the
PMEP, and the initiation of the SSA for the economically poor
(SSAEP). The projections cover the five largest programs in
terms of number of beneficiaries and expenditure (namely
the SSA, including the SSAEP, scholarships, midday meals,
the safe motherhood program, and the PMEP) and assume
expenditures of all other programs remain at their FY19
level in real terms.44 These simulations consider expected
demographic changes as well as projections related to GDP
growth and inflation (all scenarios assume that benefits are
indexed to projected inflation). Simulations also assume
different government levels have the capacity to efficiently
play their respective functions. Annex 2 provides details on
the assumptions made as well as the methodology used to
estimate the distribution of beneficiaries across quintiles.
Overall, while these scenarios are simple estimations, they
suggest that significant improvements in the impact of social
43 The Youth Employment Transformation Initiative (YETI) project supports the ESCs’ strengthening and the implementation of the PMEP while integrating training elements in the program.
44 These five programs constituted about 94 percent of the total social assistance expenditure in FY19.
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assistance on poverty and vulnerability can be achieved
with moderate increase in expenditures. Table 3 and Figure 18
summarize the budget required for each proposed change, as
well as that of all these changes combined.
In scenario A, considered the baseline here, we assume that
each program’s eligibility and coverage rates remain the
same, while the benefit amount is indexed to inflation. We
assume that the number of beneficiaries will grow in line with
the population and that the unemployment rate remains the
same. Total expenditure would increase from NPR 83 billion in
2020 to NPR 106 billion in 2025 and NPR 116 billion in 2030.45
45 The estimated FY20 expenditure is NPR 85 billion. The difference of about NPR 2 billion is likely owing to inefficiencies in some of the programs and discrepancies in population estimates across the main data sources: NLFS III and UN population estimates.
46 World Bank projections used for FY20 to FY25; GDP subsequent to FY25 is assumed be at an average of growth rates between FY21 and FY2547 The actual FY20 allocation is NPR 85 billion, about 2.2 percent of GDP. The difference of NPR 2.5 billion between the actual and estimated based on beneficiary figures is
likely owing to inefficiencies in some of the programs and discrepancies in population estimates across the main data sources: NLFS III and UN population estimates.48 Figures in parenthesis represent the total cost of SP including the proposed reform in each scenario. 49 Households with more than three children under the age of 6 have nearly three times the poverty rate (46.6 percent) compared to households with no children (12.3 percent).
As a share of GDP, however, the cost would decline from 2.10
percent in 2020 to 1.67 percent in 2025 and 1.15 percent
in 2030 using the World Bank economic projections, with
relatively high growth rates.46 The nominal increase is driven
by the increase in the number of beneficiaries, particularly
senior citizens, as the population ages. The number of children
is expected to decrease over this period, thereby reducing the
number eligible for child grant and scholarships.
Scenario B seeks to address the inadequate investment
in early years by increasing the child grant from
NPR 400 to NPR 1,000 per month and expanding its
Scenarios (and Key Assumptions)Cost, as % of GDP
Gaps and Expected ImpactFY20 FY25 FY30
A
Baseline: Current programs, constant cover-age rates, and benefits indexed to inflation (changes in costs are linked to projected demographic changes and GDP growth)
2.1047 1.67 1.15
� inadequate investment in children
� Limited coverage of the poor and limited
impact on economic poverty
B
B1: A + child grant increased to NPR 1,000 per month for current beneficiaries
+0.10(2.20)48
+0.05(1.72)
+0.03(1.18)
� Significant impact on child nutrition
� Significant impact on birth registration
� Some impact on poverty as households with
young children are poorer49
B2: A + nationwide child grant at NPR 1,000 per month
+0.75(2.85)
+0.48(2.15)
+0.27(1.42)
C
A + expanded PMEPBenefit of NPR 51,700 per year (100 days of work paid at minimum wage of NPR 517 per day); target population of all unemployed individuals in the bottom two quintiles
+0.24(2.34)
+0.19(1.86)
+0.13(1.28)
� Significant impact on economic/income
povertyAssuming a household size of 4.6, the annual transfer value covers about 58% of the 2010 pov-erty line of NPR 19,261 per person.
D
A + SSAEPBenefit of NPR 2,000 per month; target popu-lation of all households in the bottom quintile, excluding those that receive senior citizen or single women allowance
+0.40(2.50)
+0.29(1.96)
0.18(1.33)
� Significant impact on economic/income
povertyAssuming a household size of 4.6, the annual transfer value covers about 27% of the 2010 pov-erty line of NPR 19,261 per person.
Total: A + nationwide child grant, PMEP, and SSAEP
+1.40(3.50)
+0.96(2.63)
+0.60(1.75)
Table 3: Scenarios, Assumptions, and impacts of Simulated Projections
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coverage nationwide. increasing the benefit for the current
beneficiaries adds NPR 5 billion to the cost or 0.10 percent
of GDP in FY20 increasing the total to NPR 87 billion in FY20
and NPR 109 billion in 2025. Expanding the coverage of child
grant nationwide at NPR 1,000 per month would increase
spending by 0.48 percent of GDP in FY25 and 0.27 percent
in FY30. This would reach over 2.7 million children under five
across the country.
Scenario C expands the coverage of PMEP to cover all the
unemployed in the bottom two quintiles. In this scenario,
this implies an estimated number of beneficiaries of
Figure 18: Projected Social Assistance Spending under Different Scenarios
370,000 individuals. This is a significant increase from the
current coverage, aimed at 200,000 individuals in FY21. Each
beneficiary is expected to work 100 days in a year. This would
add NPR 9 billion or 0.24 percent of GDP in 2020 but only
about 0.13 percent of GDP by 2030.
Scenario D simulates the rollout of the SSAEP, according
to the 2018 Social Security Act. We simulate a scenario in
which all households in the bottom quintile benefit from
the SSAEP, with benefits of NPR 2,000 per month, excluding
households who already benefit from senior citizen or single
women allowances. This scenario shows that the rollout of the
Note: Percentages nominal and as a share of GDP.
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SSAEP would increase nominal expenditure by NPR 16 billion,
or about 0.40 percent of GDP in 2020. By 2030, it would only
increase expenditure by 0.18 percent of GDP.
Overall, introducing all these changes would result in
moderate increases in expenditure. in FY20, total social
assistance is estimated to cost 2.10 percent of GDP. introducing all
changes—the expansion of the child grant benefit and coverage
(scenario B2), the expansion of the PMEP (scenario C), and the
introduction of SSAEP (scenario D)—would increase the cost by
1.40 percent of GDP, to about 3.50 percent of GDP in FY20. Even in
this scenario, however, the cost as a share of GDP declines to 2.63
percent of GDP by 2025 and to 1.75 percent of GDP by 2030. This
suggests that the proposed reforms would not present a major
fiscal challenge in the medium term. Note that this simplified
analysis does not consider possible overlaps between beneficiaries
of the PMEP and SSAEP, suggesting the figures overestimate the
actual cost. it also assumes full coverage of the PMEP and SSAEP
and therefore overestimates the cost as large coverage gaps
are likely to remain. Similarly, it does not account for potential
expansion of the SSF, including to the informal sector, which may
shift some of the fiscal burden to the contributory insurance.
Focusing some of the programs on the poorest households
would create significant fiscal space to enable the proposed
changes. One way to create fiscal space for the proposed changes
could be to change the eligibility criteria of some programs, to
ensure they are even more focused on the poorest and most
vulnerable. Here, to illustrate the types of potential savings which
would be achieved, we simulate a fictional scenario whereby
allowances for senior citizens and single women would be
provided only to those in the poorest two quintiles. in such a
case, the total SSA cost would decrease by about NPR 45 billion
(from NPR 68 billion to NPR 23 billion, Figure 19, left panel). The
difference could easily cover an increase in the child grant to
NPR 1,000 per month, as well as its nationwide expansion at that
benefit level. Total cost would still decrease from NPR 68 billion
to NPR 47 billion. Even assuming full coverage of SSA programs
(Figure 19, right side panel), the targeting of senior citizen and
single women allowances would more than finance the expansion
of the child benefit to NPR 1,000 per month for all children. While
targeting benefits would be politically complex and would require
progressive implementation, the analysis serves to illustrate the
possible savings and how these gains can be mobilized to address
existing gaps.
2.6 Summary of Findings and RecommendationsThe Government of Nepal spends a substantial amount on
social protection. Expenditure on SP has grown fivefold over
Figure 19: Cost of SSAs under Various Scenarios, FY20
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the last 10 years, reaching NPR 134.4 billion or 3.9 percent of
GDP in FY19. This investment in SP has achieved some notable
outcomes, but challenges remain. This chapter identifies eight
key challenges that would need to be addressed to boost the
impact of the SP system on poverty and human development
outcomes.
� The poor are not covered comprehensively or
adequately by the current set of programs. Few
programs explicitly target the poor or aim to reduce
poverty. Less than 40 percent of households in the
poorest quintile are covered by social assistance
programs.50 By design, categorically targeted programs,
such as the senior citizen allowance, reach many non-
poor. For instance, only 31 percent of the beneficiaries
of senior citizen allowance belong to the poorest two
quintiles. The child grant, which is distinctly pro-poor,
currently only covers all Dalit children nationwide and
all children in 25 selected districts (270 local levels),
thereby excluding non-Dalit poor children in other parts
of the country. The PMEP is targeted to the working poor
but is not yet financed at the level required to cover all
those who may be eligible. The proposed transfer to
the economically poor (SSAEP) included in the 2018
Social Security Act is yet to be operationalized. Further,
the identification of the poor and vulnerable remains
unclear, both in terms of policy and implementation,
posing challenges for programs that have an element
of poverty targeting, such as the SSAEP, the health
insurance scheme, and the PMEP.
� In addition, large coverage gaps remain among
those eligible for existing programs, partly due to
implementation challenges. Among the SSAs, coverage
rates are particularly low for the disability grant and the
child grant. Estimates of under-coverage in disability
grant range from 13 percent to 47 percent.51 The senior
citizen allowance and the single women allowance
are found to reach a larger share of the eligible with
estimates ranging from 69 percent to 85 percent.52
� Another area of concern is health shocks, which are
not covered adequately. The risk of catastrophic health
expenditures in Nepal due to an illness or injury is high,
as households bore 55 percent of total health spending
directly out of pocket in FY16. The national health
insurance program is supposed to cover all households
nationwide eventually; however, the coverage remains
low at about 12 percent of the households nationwide.
� Current programs are not designed to be flexible and
scaled up in response to shocks. Programs are designed
to address chronic or static vulnerabilities and cannot
scale up to respond to shocks. Any response to a shock,
like the economic impacts of COViD-19, is complicated by
the absence of databases to identify the most vulnerable,
inability of existing programs to scale up, and absence of
contingent funds linked to these programs.
� Spending on early years and children is limited. Over
50 percent of the social assistance expenditure goes to
the elderly, who make up less than 20 percent of the
total beneficiaries (and considering pensions, the elderly
actually receive about 75 percent of all SP spending). This
is so because of two reasons: first, some of the programs
targeting children do not yet have full geographic
coverage. Second, benefits that go to children are much
smaller than the senior citizen allowances (child grant
benefit is NPR 400 per month compared to senior citizen
allowance which is NPR 3,000 per month). Similarly,
scholarship for girls and Dalits for basic education is
merely NPR 400 per year. These benefits remain low
despite the growing consensus about the need to
invest in early years for human development outcomes.
50 HRVS, a panel survey of 6,000 households in non-metropolitan areas between 2016 and 2018. The survey covered six programs: senior citizens allowance, single women allowance, disability allowance, child grant, safe motherhood program and public works, and earthquake relief and other emergency relief.
51 A 2019 survey of six districts conducted by OPM estimated that 13 percent of those with blue and red disability cards do not receive the allowance. According to the 2016 HRVS, 47 percent of individuals who have a red or a blue card certifying their profound or severe disability (and eligibility for the disability grant) are currently not receiving the grant.
52 The same OPM survey estimated the coverage of senior citizen and single women allowance to be at 85 percent, while HRVS estimated the coverage of senior citizens at 69 percent and single women at 79 percent.
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Their limited size limits their impact on poverty and the
development of human capital.
� Current programs focus on singular interventions
(cash, training, and so on) and are implemented in
isolation from each other, which limits the sector’s
impact on outcomes. For early years programs,
interventions are not coordinated with each other and
fail to ensure that children receive all the benefits and
services they are eligible for across social protection,
health, and education. Similarly, programs targeted
to the working poor do not address the multiple
constraints that these households face, which limits
their transformational potential. Also, there are currently
no referral mechanisms that would allow individuals
or households to navigate between programs, as their
conditions evolve.
� Current programs do not focus on productive
inclusion. There is a range of livelihood programs in
Nepal, but they are very limited in size and scope and fail
to provide a comprehensive package to address multiple
constraints that poor and vulnerable households face.
Overall, only about 3 percent of the total SP expenditure
is dedicated to labor market programs.
� The lack of coordination at the level of policy making
and implementation has led to some duplications,
particularly in health-related social protection
programs. in the absence of an overarching policy
and institutional framework, programs have emerged
from annual budget speeches over the years in an
ad hoc manner. With few exceptions, these programs
operate independently without policy or operational
links to each other. in addition to limiting duplication,
coordination could also simplify program administration
while ensuring increased coverage.
Although expenditure has been growing sharply, various
simulations suggest there is fiscal room in the medium
term to strengthen the SP system and address some of
these challenges, particularly around coverage gaps and
adequacy of benefits. At current coverage rates and benefit
levels, spending as a share of GDP is expected to decline from
an estimated 2.10 percent in 2020 to 1.67 percent in 2025 and
1.15 percent in 2030. Expanding child benefits to all eligible
with a benefit size of NPR 1,000 grant would increase costs
by 0.75 percent of GDP in 2020 but only 0.27 percent of GDP
by 2030. implementing the PMEP at scale and putting in
place a nationwide SSAEP would add 0.13 percent and 0.18
percent of GDP by 2030, respectively. Overall, combining all
these changes would result in total spending of 3.50 percent
of GDP in 2020, 2.63 percent in 2025, and 1.75 percent in
2030. Substantial fiscal space can also be created by focusing
existing programs on the poorest quintiles: targeting the
senior citizen and single women allowances would more than
finance the expansion of the child grant, for instance.
2.6.1 Recommendations � Clarify broad objectives of social protection and roles
and responsibilities of each level of government,
including establishing coordination and oversight
mechanisms and service delivery standards. The
National social protection framework currently being
drafted could be an entry point for stronger legal and
policy dialogue on an integrated and effective social
protection framework in Nepal. Standards and guidelines
in the design and delivery of social protection programs
by province and local levels would also be necessary to
support coordinated investments in social protection in
the federal context.
� Define institutional arrangements for the sector’s
management. Establishing a designated agency
responsible for implementing the national strategy,
coordinating with sectoral ministries to identify and monitor
necessary reforms in program design, and coordinating
across the levels of government is a priority to move toward
an integrated social protection delivery system.
� Establish an integrated social registry to facilitate
expansion of coverage, integration across relevant
programs, and shock response. A dynamic registry that
captures demographic and socioeconomic data of all
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households could help identify those eligible for current
programs and identify vulnerable non-beneficiaries who
may need support in times of shock (Ministry of Forests
and Environment 2021). in addition, such a database
could facilitate coordination/integration across programs
on both the demand and supply sides. The registry,
with further investment in administrative systems could
enhance the programs’ outreach to ensure better coverage
of the eligible and better monitoring of programs. The
Government of Nepal has already initiated dialogue and
initial planning to establish the registry. it is also critical, as
underlined by UNiCEF, to continue strengthening the civil
registration system (UNiCEF 2021).
� Raise the impact of social assistance on poverty
by operationalizing the SSAEP and scaling up the
PMEP. The proposed SSAEP and the PMEP are the two
nationwide programs with the potential to support poor
households at scale. Their expansion would address
a critical gap in Nepal’s system and yield significant
poverty gains at a fiscally sustainable cost.
� Increase investment in the early years. This requires
reviewing the benefit amounts of existing programs and
assessment of gaps in available services and programs to
increase access to support for child development in the
early years. increasing the benefit and coverage of the
child grant could be one way to initiate this. Simulations
suggest there is fiscal room to do this with phased
expansion across the country.
� Protect progress in poverty reduction and
investments in human capital by ensuring that
programs are responsive to shocks. This would require
ensuring that (a) key programs such as the PMEP and SSA
are scalable by design; (b) the vulnerable that are likely to
be affected by shocks can be identified, ideally using an
integrated social registry; and (c) contingency funds are
available and can be mobilized through these programs.
� Combine cash with complementary interventions to
focus on human capital in the early years. in addition
to increasing benefits and coverage, the child grant
should be leveraged to facilitate access to information
and training on good practice around early childhood
development. it is also critical to coordinate the various
programs dedicated to early years—safe motherhood,
birth registration, child grant, and ECED—to ensure
every child receives all the benefits s/he is eligible for by
referring beneficiaries between programs.
� Leverage existing programs to design and deliver
an integrated package of services to advance
productive economic inclusion of the poor working
age population. in addition to deploying integrated
programs on a large scale, the Government could also
systematically integrate or link beneficiaries from existing
cash transfer programs or cash-for-work programs with
other services—skills, entrepreneurships, access to
credit, and so on. The ESCs at each local level could be
leveraged toward this.
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Social Protection Decentralization: Analysis of Functions, Allocations, and Expenditures
CHAPTER 3.
The first years of transition to a federal state structure in
Nepal have already brought about significant changes
in the way social protection programs are budgeted and
spent. The Constitution of Nepal (2015) divides the power
of state among federal, province, and local levels, with
exclusive and concurrent areas of rights of each level listed
in various annexes. The Nepalese state shifted fundamentally
from the previous unitary state of governance to a federal
one, with the relation between the three levels guided by
the spirit of cooperation, co-existence, and coordination
(Constitution of Nepal, Article 232, Sub-Article 1). in the
previous structure, social protection programs, as with other
programs, were implemented directly by the responsible line
ministries at the central level and their staff at the respective
deconcentrated offices at the district level, which in turn
relied on local bodies and service delivery facilities for budget
expenditure, reporting, and last-mile delivery. in the current
federal structure, local-level governments are responsible for
program implementation and service delivery of both federal
social protection programs and those developed by local-
level governments themselves (except the SSF and public
sector pension).
This chapter aims to analyze the implications of federalism
on SP programming, budgeting, and expenditure, with a
focus on local-level budget allocation and expenditure under
the emerging federation.53 The next section provides an
overview of the constitutional, legal, institutional, and fund
flow provisions as related to the delivery of social protection
functions in the federal context, with a particular focus on
social assistance. The second section analyzes the patterns
in the distribution of budget among local levels. The third
section analyzes the preliminary expenditure data collected
from local levels to review overall and social protection
related expenditure patterns, with a focus on those using
discretionary funds. The chapter concludes with a summary
of the main trends and issues in allocation and expenditure
of social protection programs in federal Nepal and selected
recommendations.
3.1 Social Protection in Federal Nepal: Legal and Institutional Provisions3.1.1 Constitutional Provisions on Allocation of FunctionsThe Constitution of Nepal defines ‘social security
and poverty reduction’ as both exclusive powers of
the federal government and concurrent functions of
the federal, province, and local-level governments in
Nepal (Annexes 5 and 9). An unbundling report, which
elaborates on the functional distribution of powers
between the federal, state, and local governments,
specifies that all three tiers of government may formulate
and implement social protection and poverty reduction-
related programs within their jurisdiction (Table 4) (FiARCC
53 Province-level budget allocation and expenditure are not included in the analysis as relevant data could not be accessed. The local-level allocation and expenditure analysis focuses on FY19 for which full set of data were available.
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Federal State Local
Social Security: Annex 5 (32), 9 (10) � Social security related national
policies, law, standard, and regulation
� SSF-related national policies, law, fund management. and regulation
� Liaison, coordination, and cooperation with social security-related international agencies and organizations
Social Security: Annex 7 (11 and 21) � Social security-related state policies,
law, standard, and regulation � SSF management and regulation � Liaison, coordination, and
cooperation with social security-related national and provincial agencies and organizations
Social Security: Annex 9 (10) � Social security-related local policies, law,
standard, and regulation � Local plan, program, resource
mobilization, and management for identified and targeted groups
� Liaison, coordination, and cooperation with social security-related national, provincial, and local agencies and organizations
� Social security-related statistics and information management
Management of senior citizens, incapacitated and persons with disabilities: Annex 8 (16)
� implementation of SP programs according to national and provincial standards
Poverty Reduction: Annex 5 (32), An-nex 9 (10)
� Poverty reduction-related national policies, law, standard, and regulation
� Standards for national poverty line and living standards
� Poor household identification-related survey, information management, and regulation
� Poor household identity card management
� Social security and protection-related program (design), implementation, and regulation for identified poor households
Poverty Reduction: Annex 9 (10) � Poverty reduction-related
poverty policies, law, standard, and regulation
� Poor household identification-related provincial survey, information management, and regulation
� Management of social security and protection-related program for identified poor households
Poverty Reduction: Annex 9 (10) � Poverty reduction-related local
policies, law, standard, and regulation
� Poor household identification-related local-level survey, information management, and regulation
� Local social protection planning and management (related to poverty reduction)
Employment and Unemployment As-sistance: Annex 7 (11 and 21)
� Employment creation-related national laws, policies, standards, and regulation
� Labor- and laborer-related social security national policies, laws, standards, and regulation
Employment and Unemployment As-sistance: Annex 7 (11 and 21)
� Employment creation-related provincial laws, policies, standards, and regulation
� Labor- and laborer-related social security provincial policies, laws, standards, and regulation
� Self-employment promotion through entrepreneurship development, training, credit subsidy, and enterprise promotion assistance
Data collection of Unemployed: Annex 8 (17)
� Data collection, processing, and information management of the employed and unemployed
� information management of foreign workers
Table 4: Social Protection Related Excerpts from the Unbundling Report
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
2017). Establishing clear roles and responsibilities and
defining institutional mechanisms to ensure coordination
are key to ensure that concurrent functions or areas
of rights are exercised to mutually supplement and
complement the investments of the various levels
of governments to achieve shared objectives. The
elaborations on social protection and poverty reduction-
related functions in the unbundling report however do
not go far enough in precisely clarifying these roles and
responsibilities, as can be observed in the similarity in the
details presented in the first row of Table 4.
The functional assignments of employment and
unemployment assistance-related programs are also
shared areas of rights between federal and province
governments. As in many federal countries, the federal and
the province governments share the functional areas related
to employment creation and safety nets for workers and the
unemployed. The contributory SSF management as well as
employment creation-related policy functions are shared
between federal and provincial governments. Local levels are
only responsible for collecting data on the employed and the
unemployed within their jurisdiction.
The federal government can formulate national social
protection strategy, policies, and standards to ensure all
state and local-level social protection programs adhere
to the same principles and objectives and contribute to
national social protection goals. Although all three tiers have
concurrent powers to formulate and implement programs within
their jurisdictions, the federal government also has exclusive
legal and regulatory power related to social protection programs.
This is fairly typical of both federal and unitary countries. The
constitution further establishes the supremacy or primacy
of federal law over state or local laws and that of state laws
over local-level policies in cases where they contradict each
other (Articles 57.6, 57.7). The latter two provisions point to
the mandate of the federal government to not only provide
strategic policy guidance to state and local-level governments
for the implementation of federal programs but also to establish
standards that state and local-level governments have to follow
when establishing their own social protection programs.
The devolution of social protection programs remains
an ongoing process. A large number of social protection
programs have been devolved to the local levels; however, the
largest ones continue to be held by the federal government,
including budgets for the SSAs, public sector pensions
schemes, SSF, and the health insurance program. Employment
and labor market-related programs (including the PMEP and
MEDPA) have seen a gradual devolution from the federal level
to provinces and local levels over the past couple of years.
However, the actual delivery of most programs (except the
SSF and public sector pension) has been decentralized to the
local levels. The following section provides a brief overview of
the legal and institutional provisions that guide the transfer
and delivery of program budgets by local levels and of the
main challenges associated with the decentralized delivery
structure. it focuses mostly on social assistance programs, as
social insurance programs remain centralized.
3.1.2 Legal and Institutional Arrangements for Delivery of ProgramsThe Intergovernmental Fiscal Arrangement Act (IGFA Act,
2017) provides the overall legal and procedural framework
for budgeting, transfers, and expenditure of public funds.
The iGFA Act provides for different modalities of transfers of
funds through grants and redistribution of revenue and natural
resources royalties between the three tiers of the government.
The four categories of grants are fiscal equalization grant (FEG),
conditional grants, special grants, and complementary grants.
Allocations of FEG, redistribution of revenue (of collected
excise duties and value added tax), and natural resources
royalty allocation are made using formula-based indicators
as defined by the National Natural Resources and Fiscal
Commission (NNRFC).54 Around 75 percent of the weights
used for the allocation of fiscal equalization and revenue
redistribution consist of population and expenditure needs
and population and area, respectively. Human development
index and socioeconomic indicators represent a smaller share
54 See Annex 4 for the framework and indicators used for FEGs and revenue redistribution. The redistribution of natural resources royalties follows different formulas based on the natural resource type.
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in both of the frameworks. Special and complementary grants
are demand-based transfer modalities whereby federal and
provincial governments can fund specific activities at the
implementing level. Conditional grants, according to iGFA Act,
Article 9, are provided by the federal government to provincial
or local-level governments, and from province to local levels,
for the implementation of federal, provincial, or local-level plans
and programs on the basis of the recommendations of the
NNRFC. The NNRFC prepares annual recommendations on the
principles, basis, and use of conditional grants for both federal
and provincial levels, which are supposed to be followed by
the respective line ministries. As many of the devolved sectoral
programs (including social assistance programs in health and
education) continue to be federally funded, the allocation of
the budget for these programs is still under the responsibility of
the line agencies at the federal level.
The Local Government Operations Act, 2017, provides
the legal framework related to the functions of the local-
level governments including procedures for local-level
planning, budgeting, and implementation of programs.
The act specifies that the local level shall be responsible for the
implementation and management of SP programs under federal
and state laws (Article 11.2.a) and also allows the option for local
levels to formulate policies, laws, and standards for designing
and implementing local-level social protection plans and
programs for identified and targeted groups (Article 11.4.f). The
act further specifies that local governments should formulate
and implement periodic, annual, strategic, and sectoral medium-
and long-term development plans (Article 24.1) while ensuring
that they align with the policies, objectives, goals, timelines, and
procedures of the federal and state governments (Article 24.2).
The act also identifies several principles to help prioritize local-
level plans including poverty reduction and benefiting women,
children, and marginalized classes; regions; and communities
(Article 24.3.a, f). The act however does not specify the
mechanism for federal and provincial governments to monitor
compliance of local-level governments in terms of program
standards and guidelines.55 This suggests that individual program
guidelines themselves need to have provisions for monitoring and
oversight of program implementation at the local level.56
Most of the national social assistance programs are funded
through conditional grants and payment authorizations (SSA
program). The SSA program funds are provided to local levels
as payment authorization against the federal treasury, as was
the practice during the pre-federalism period. While the iGFA Act
did not include provision for transfer of funds between different
levels of government outside the four grants-based funding
and revenue-sharing modalities, the 2019 Financial Procedures
and Fiscal Accountability Act allows ministries or agencies to
authorize expenditure to another ‘office’, in cases where more
than one office has to spend the allocated amount. This act, by
including province and local-level government offices under the
definition of ‘office’ provides the legal basis for intergovernmental
payment authorization as a modality of fund transfer between the
levels of government. As will also be discussed in the section on
expenditures, this modality represents a large share of local-level
social assistance expenditures.
As discussed earlier, there is no integrated framework or
standards to guide coordinated programming and delivery
of programs by different levels of government. While various
acts provide the legislative frameworks for specific programs, no
singular policy framework or strategy exists to define and guide
the overall social protection objectives of the government. Thus,
there is no framework which regulates how different levels can
contribute to shared national objectives and how the sector is
organized to ensure coordination across different levels. Absence
of an overarching sectoral policy framework has also meant that
social assistance programming has been mainly led by federal
budget, with little space for subnational governments. it will be
critical to ensure that the National Social Protection Framework,
currently under preparation, lays out these foundations.57
55 The Federal, Province and Local Level (Coordination and Interrelations) Act, 2020, provides further guidance on managing intergovernmental relations, but the regulations for the act are still pending.
56 A Monitoring and Evaluation Bill has been submitted to the National Assembly to establish the legal framework of monitoring and evaluation mandates and principles for all three levels of government. However, the bill primarily focuses on the implementation of plans and development programs, with limited focus on service delivery.
57 The National Planning Commission (NPC) has approved a draft version of the National Social Protection Framework, as of the drafting of this chapter, and is being reviewed before being submitted to the cabinet for final adoption.
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Social protection could be regarded as a government function that is best suited to be a function of national or central governments because of “nation-wide equity and goals and because of externalities that can render decentralized management economically inefficient” (Matsuda 2017). While the majority of countries with federal or quasi-federal structures aligning with this view provide this mandate to federal governments, some countries like india, South Africa, Argentina, and Brazil have assigned social protection as a shared responsibility between federal and state/province or local governments. However, in spite of differences in functional assignments, federal governments are seen to account for the largest share of social protection expenditure in most countries. Even when federal governments generally play the dominant policy-making and financing role, local-level governments in most cases are responsible for the delivery of services and benefits (Matsuda 2017).
Different patterns of central and local-level roles and responsibilities are observed in the delivery of social protection (Figure 20). Nepal’s current institutional framework for the main social protection programs aligns more with the ‘central administration with partial delegation of responsibilities’ model, in which the administrative tasks are delegated to the local levels with the planning and financing of benefits and administrative costs remaining with the federal level. As Nepal adopts its national framework, the allocation of responsibilities may evolve.
Concurrency of functions raises the issue of duplication of efforts, a challenge that is exacerbated in contexts that are highly decentralized and have significant fragmentation of social protection programs. As responses to coordination challenges resulting from concurrency and fragmentation, some countries like Argentina
Box 5: Delivering Social Protection in Federal Contexts - Lessons from international Experience
Source: Matsuda 2017, 16.
Figure 20: Typology for Division of Roles and Responsibilities in Social Protection
Decentralized Administration with Federal Oversight
Complete Local Autonomy
Centralized Administration
Central Administration with Partial Delegation of Responsibilities
Centralized
Local
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and South Africa have taken measures to recentralize some social protection functions away from subnational levels, while others have adopted policy instruments to ensure coordination and effective implementation.
Centralization as a Response to Concurrencyin South Africa, the federal government recentralized its social protection policy (in particular, the block social grants system) to create a federal agency to administer all social assistance grants in 2004. This was primarily driven by institutional and capacity problems at the province and local levels, including corruption and service delivery failures. Argentina has tried to recentralize both its pensions as well as social assistance programs away from subnational authorities. The Argentinian federal government attempted, with limited success, to centralize the pension system to bring coherence and equity (in terms of eligibility criteria and benefits) and also due to fiscal considerations of provincial governments in the 1990s (Matsuda 2017). The universal child allowance (Asignación Universal por Hijo, AUH), a child grants program with extensive coverage, replaced a public works program (Jefes and Jefas, PJJHD) and a CCT program (Programa Familias, PF) after issues related to political capture by subnational government and to intergovernmental coordination in the delivery of programs. The AUH is completely centralized, without province or local-level involvement, and is administered through the centralized national social security system (Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social, ANSES). Lack of coordination across three levels of government arising from governance and fund flow structures that provide political and fiscal incentives to not cooperate constitute the key policy challenges in Argentina. These factors continue to affect the delivery of social protection in the country even after attempts to recentralize social protection
functions. Even in these examples of recentralization, implementation is often a mix of delivery by a central administrative body and delivery through partial delegation to subnational levels.
Supporting Institutional Coordination through Integration in Policy, Program, and Delivery Systemin contrast to Argentina and South Africa, experience from Brazil points to possibilities of ensuring coordination in the delivery of social protection by institutionalizing clear roles and responsibilities and use of innovative policy instruments. Social protection in Brazil is a shared responsibility between provincial and local governments, with local governments enjoying considerable autonomy from states and federal authorities. The 1993 Organic Law of Social Assistance established the roles and responsibilities of the three levels of government and the basis for the Unified System of Social Assistance (SUAS), the platform for intergovernmental coordination. The SUAS is operationalized through two further federal mechanisms including the single registry (Cadastro Unico) and the index of decentralized management (iGD). The first mainstreams the processes of entry into various programs. Providing a single gateway into multiple programs is also a way to avoid duplication. iGD is used to estimate the transfer of resources (linked to the quality of local operations, including the performance and use of the single registry system). Bolsa Familia, the largest CCT program in the country, was formed by consolidating several pre-existing cash transfer programs to reduce the inefficiencies resulting from repeated administrative procedures. The program uses the national single registry to enroll beneficiaries. Municipalities sign memoranda of understanding with the federal government and are responsible for running social assistance reference centers, a single window which
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provides information and supports enrolment into a wide range of programs. Brazil, thus, provides an interesting example of improving coordination in the delivery of social protection through greater clarity in roles and responsibilities, consolidation of programs, use of integrated systems, and institutional arrangements that encourage local-level service providers to adopt and use the systems, in a decentralized implementation environment with strong federal oversight.
Many countries following Brazil’s experience have increasingly turned to integrated information and delivery systems to improve coordination and efficiency in social protection in decentralized structures. indonesia and Kenya are more recent examples of countries that have started building a single registry system following different modalities. inefficiencies resulting from the fragmentation of federal programs also cause duplication in efforts at the point of service delivery, which like in Nepal are the local-level governments in many cases. international experiences in integration of delivery processes, along with the use of integrated registries
and single-window delivery points for multiple programs, provide potential solutions to such service delivery issues in decentralized and federal contexts.
Lessons for Nepal � Policy and legal framework to clarify roles and
responsibilities and also longer-term vision for the social protection sector are essential to coordinate delivery in a decentralized structure. Many of the countries mentioned have strong legislative or sectoral policies that have guided efforts to improve coordination and efficiency in program delivery.
� Addressing human and fiscal capacity constraints at the subnational level and strengthening federal oversight mechanisms are a key priority for transitioning to a completely decentralized administration model.
� Reducing fragmentation of existing programs and use of integrated systems are key to address challenges related to concurrency and duplication in the federal context.
Program guidelines and implementation manuals provide
local levels with the procedures and standards for the
delivery of services and benefits. Local levels rely on program
guidelines provided by federal line ministries to plan and
deliver services and benefits. The organizational structure
of local levels includes specific personnel designated as
focal persons for each sector/function.58 Health coordinator,
education officer or resource person, and civil registration and
SSA focal persons are responsible for ensuring coordination
and communication between the service delivery facilities
58 Please refer to Annex 11 for generalized organogram of local levels and personnel and institutions responsible for the delivery of specific programs and services.
and the local-level executive office. The delivery of the services
following the standards and procedures is the responsibility of
personnel at the respective facilities (birthing center, schools,
and ward offices). Ward committees (including chairperson and
members) constitute the lowest level of elected representatives
in the federal structure and have some oversight authority
over education and health facilities in the respective wards.
However, actual monitoring is often limited due to low capacity
and knowledge of program-specific guidelines.
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Overall, Nepal’s context and international experiences
both suggest that the federal level needs to continue to
play critical functions. These include functions related to
policy, standard setting, programming, and financing. They
also include functions of support to the local levels aimed
at strengthening their capacity to implement national as
well as local programs. in Nepal, the federal government
is responsible for the planning, budgeting, and financing
of key programs (see next section) and finances key local-
level personnel responsible for their delivery. Although
the concurrency of social protection functions allows for
subnational levels of government to design and implement
their own programs, the amounts they can dedicate to social
protection will depend on their relative capacities (both
physical and fiscal) as well as development needs in other
sectors. Given the relatively recent transition to a federal
structure and weak local capacities, it might be advisable
for critical social protection functions to remain under the
federal level, while capacity is built to support subnational-
level programming and while national programs are further
improved to address geographic and social inequities.
3.2 Allocation of Social Protection Program Budget3.2.1 Overall Allocation between Levels of GovernmentThe federal government continues to manage the biggest
portion (around 80 percent) of the total national annual
budget, including all sectors.59 The budget transferred to
the local levels has been increasing over the years, whereas
Figure 21: Total Budget Allocation and intergovernmental Transfers from the Federal Level
Source: MOF, Red Books, Various Years
(a) Total Budget Allocations (b) Intergovernmenal Transfers
59 This section focuses on budget allocation by the federal government; hence, own-source revenues (and starting balances in provinces and local-level consolidated funds) are not included (they would be included in their own budgets).
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that for provinces has decreased in the current FY (Figure 21).
The amounts of the special and matching grants have also
been consistently low (around NPR 5 billion per year each
for provinces and local levels). And while conditional grants
have been decreasing for provinces, they have consistently
increased for the local levels.60 FEGs and revenue sharing
constitute the majority of local-level discretionary funds and
have remained consistently around NPR 150 billion.
Similarly, for social protection, the majority of the budget
is managed at the federal level. The social protection budget,
measured according to the functional classification, has grown
over the past years, although limited devolution of funds to
province and local levels has been observed (Table 5).61 Compared
to other human development sectors, social protection is the least
decentralized in terms of budget (Figure 22). This partly reflects
the fact that the SSA program budget is still under the federal
60 Provinces and local levels also receive funds from the redistribution of revenue and natural resources royalties. Provinces also provide revenue redistribution and grants to local levels that are not captured in the figures above, which are based on centrally prepared federal and subnational red books.
61 The analysis uses the functional classification, as the red books do not report using economic classification (see Box 1 for a description of these classifications and their differences). Functional categorization of SP includes mostly social assistance program budget. Data from the Federal Red Book for FY19, FY20, and FY21.
FY19 FY20 FY21
NPR, millions Share of Total (%) NPR, millions Share of Total (%) NPR, millions Share of Total (%)
Federal 45,857 97.7 71,000 99.5 92,274 94.4
Province 232 0.5 5 0.0 56 0.1
Local level 824 1.8 381 0.5 5,455 5.6
Table 5: Social Protection Federal Budget Allocation (to All Levels, Functional Classification)
Source: MOF, Red Book, Various Years.Note: includes all federally financed expenditure (does not include discretionary budgeting at the subnational levels).
Source: MOF, Red Book, Various Years.Note: includes all federally financed expenditure (does not include discretionary budgeting at the subnational levels).
Figure 22: Decentralization of Federal Budget in Human Development Sectors
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government. if public pensions were included, the share of the
federal government would be even higher.
The remainder of this section provides an overview of the
distribution of the budget for four main SP programs (SSA,
scholarship, midday meal, and safe motherhood) across
the 753 local levels to illustrate the equity and efficiency
dimensions of the allocations in FY19.62 Equity in this context
is understood as the alignment of the allocated budget to the
differences in geographic and poverty characteristics of the
local levels. Efficiency is understood as the responsiveness of
the budget allocation to the needs of the local level and its
relationship with the expected program outcomes.
3.2.2 Equity in the Allocation of Budget for Key Social Assistance ProgramsThe distributions of population as well as poverty profiles of
households in Nepal are uneven across ecological areas, rural
and urban areas, and provinces. Local levels in mountain areas
constitute a small proportion of the total population but present
high monetary poverty rates (around 40 percent of households
are below the poverty line, see Figure 23). Monetary poverty
also decreases with urbanization, with metropolitan and sub-
metropolitan municipalities displaying lower poverty incidence
(note that urban local levels formed after federalism are largely
constituted of rural areas, with higher poverty rates). Overall, the
incidence of poverty is not significantly correlated with the local
level’s population size: the relationship between poverty incidence
and population only captures a small proportion of the variations
observed (Figure 24). So, while poverty rates are on average higher
in rural areas, there are significant variations in poverty between
rural areas with comparably low population. This has important
implications for the distribution of social protection programs.
Multidimensional poverty rates in Province 2 and Karnali Province
are higher than monetary poverty rates, suggesting that a significant
share of households are not income or consumption poor but may
be deprived along the dimensions of health, education, or living
standards. The gap may be even more severe as monetary poverty
rates are estimated to have fallen further since the 2010 survey
although COViD-19 is likely to have reversed some these gains. 63
62 The budget for the four programs was around NPR 45 billion in FY19, approximately 81 percent of the total social assistance budget and 33 percent of total SP budget. All but the midday meal program are nationally implemented until FY20 (see section 2.1.3). Midday meal program has also been expanded across the country in FY21.
63 Although no official poverty estimates have been prepared since 2011 (national poverty rate estimated at 25 percent, but World Bank staff estimates based on the AHS put the national poverty rate around 20 percent in 2014/15).
64 The provincial Monetary Poverty and MPI HCRs are from NPC (2018), based on 2010/11 NLSS and 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The Monetary Poverty HCRs for ecological zones and local-level types are based on World Bank staff calculations, using NLSS 2010/11. Population estimates have been derived from the 2010/11 census.
Figure 23: Distribution of Population across Areas and Poverty Headcount Ratios (HCRs)64
Source: NPC , World Bank
Monetary Poverty HCRMultidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) HCR
Mou
ntai
n
Ecological Zone Province Local Level Type
Bagm
ati21
Tera
i
Hill
Rura
lM
unic
ipal
ity
Urb
anM
unic
ipal
ity
Sub-
met
ropo
litan
Met
ropo
litan
Gand
aki
Lum
bini
Karn
ali
Sudu
r Pa
shch
im
Percentage of Population
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Allocations for selected social assistance programs
(scholarships, midday meal, and safe motherhood)
are relatively well aligned with poverty, but important
inequities remain. Local levels in mountain areas have
higher combined per capita budget allocation, which
matches their higher poverty prevalence (Figure 25). This
partly reflects a combination of small populations, explicit
geographic targeting of some programs (midday meal),
and higher levels of benefits (safe motherhood program)
in mountain areas. Per capita scholarship budget is lowest
in Terai regions, whereas that for midday meals is lowest in
hilly areas. The safe motherhood program budget provides
different rates for Terai, hill, and mountain regions (NPR 1,000,
NPR 2,000, and NPR 3,000, respectively), though these are
not reflected in the per capita allocation. While the areas’
demographic profiles and availability of facilities might
Source: World Bank
Figure 24: Population and Poverty HCRs of Local Levels
Source: MOF, NPC, World Bank
Figure 25: Per Capita FY19 Program Budget for Three Federally Financed Programs
Mou
ntai
n
Ecological Zone Province Local Level Type
Bagm
ati21
Tera
i
Hill
Rura
lM
unic
ipal
ity
Urb
anM
unic
ipal
ity
Sub-
met
ropo
litan
Met
ropo
litan
National
Gand
aki
Lum
bini
Karn
ali
Sudu
r Pa
shch
im
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) HCRScholarship Midday Meal Safe Motherhood Monetary Poverty HCR
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explain some of these differences, the low allocation for areas
with high population is particularly concerning. Focusing on
provinces, total per capita program allocation in Province 2 (in
the Terai region) is just above half of that for Karnali Province
which has comparable MPi HCR but one-third the population
of Province 2. And analysis by local-level type suggests an
overall correlation but also remaining inequities. The safe
motherhood program provides much larger benefits per
capita in metropolitan cities and the smallest benefits in sub-
metropolitan cities.
The per capita allocations for the SSA program are lower
for sub-metropolitan and metropolitan cities and for
local levels in the Terai region, particularly Province 2.
in Province 2, the average per capita allocation per local
level is around NPR 925, significantly lower than the national
average of NPR 1,529 (Figure 26). Differences in the share of
eligible demographic categories across areas are unlikely to
be significant, suggesting low per capita allocations most
likely reflecting under-coverage of individuals who are
eligible in some areas. Under-coverage could result from
many factors, including difficulties in accessing services and
lack of identification documents. Under-coverage might
also explain small per capita allocation in metropolitan and
sub-metropolitan cities, when programs rely on a permanent
residence to register people, limiting access to internal
migrant population groups. Overall, UNiCEF reports per capita
allocations ranging from NPR 1,596 in Bagmati to NPR 2,659
in Gandaki, with Province 2 and Karnali Province having high
MPi but low per capita allocation, while Gandaki Province
displays the lowest MPi and receives the highest per capita
SSA (UNiCEF 2021).65
Overall, local-level poverty rates explain little of the
variations in per capita budget allocations for most
programs, except for scholarships. The scatter plots (Annex
4) of per capita budget for SSA, safe motherhood, and midday
meal programs show little correlation with local-level poverty
profiles (statistically insignificant or relatively low correlation
coefficient as in the midday meal program, as reflected in
Table 6). However, a strong correlation is observed for the per
capita scholarship budget.
Figure 26: Per Capita FY19 SSA Budget by Geography
Source: MOHA, NPC, World Bank
65 UNICEF 2021.
Mou
ntai
n
Local Level Type
Bagm
ati21
Tera
i
Hill
Rura
lM
unic
ipal
ity
Urb
anM
unic
ipal
ity
Sub-
met
ropo
litan
Met
ropo
litan
National
Gand
aki
Lum
bini
Karn
ali
Sudu
r Pa
shch
im
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) HCR Monetary Poverty HCRSSA
Ecological Zone Province
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The differences observed between programs derive
both from design and the process followed to allocate
the program budget. The SSA program by design targets
beneficiaries categorically, and most categories remain
relatively equally distributed across poverty groups, as
also discussed in Chapter 2. The allocation for the safe
motherhood program is based on a budget ceiling (informed
by the previous year’s budget) and local levels’ population and
geography. Supply-side factors, in particular the availability
of health facilities, can be expected to play a determining
role in the uptake in different local levels and could explain
more of the differences in allocation than poverty levels.
Allocations for education-related programs are based on
the actual number of students recorded in the EMiS, and the
high correlation with poverty could be linked to the higher
number of public-school students in the local levels with
higher poverty rates.67
3.2.3 Efficiency Perspectives in Program Budget AllocationThe concept of allocative efficiency is generally used to
characterize the overall budget in terms of its capacity “to
distribute resources on the basis of the government’s priorities and
the program’s effectiveness” (Schick 2001). This section applies this
framework to the distribution of the SP budget among the local
levels. Allocation for scholarship and midday meals programs, for
example, would be considered more efficient if more budget per
capita were allocated to the local levels with lower enrolment and
graduation rates, and which in turn translated into year-on-year
improvement in these indicators for those local levels. 68
The responsiveness of per capita budget to the local-level
needs appears negative for most health and education-
related social protection programs.69 The FY19 per capita
budget for the safe motherhood program, designed to
incentivize delivery at the health facility and adoption of
antenatal and postnatal care visits, is positively correlated
with the rate of institutional births in the preceding fiscal
year (significant at 5 percent significance level). This shows
that local levels with higher institutional delivery rates were
on average allocated more per capita resources. This partly
reflects the cumulative effect of the program, as well as the
greater presence of health facilities in these local levels.
However, this also points to an inefficient budgeting process
that favors better ‘performing’ local levels instead of investing
more in areas where institutional delivery rates are lower. The
correlation between net enrolment rates (for girls and overall)
and per capita scholarship is similarly positive and statistically
significant. This suggests that on average, the local levels
with higher enrolment rates were allocated higher per capita
scholarship budget. The per capita allocation for the midday
meal, however, did not have a statistically significant correlation
with net enrolment rates.
There is limited evidence of a correlation between the
scholarships and midday meals program budget and the
performance of students and schools. As discussed in Chapter
2, the impact of scholarships on attendance and retention, and
by extension on graduation, has been limited by the small size of
the benefits for basic-level schools. The negative and statistically
significant correlation of per capita scholarship budget with
Table 6: Correlation between per Capita Program Budget and Poverty HCR66
Per Capita SSA Per Capita Safe Motherhood Per Capita Scholarship Per Capita Midday Meal
Poverty HCR −0.0562 −0.0649 0.5597* 0.1335*
66 An asterisk signals statistical significance at 5 percent significance level in Tables 4 and 5.67 The correlation coefficient between the proportion of students in public schools out of the total number of students and poverty rates in local levels is found to be
positive and statistically significant at 1 percent significance level. 68 This analysis does not include SSA, since the program does not have specific objectives or outcomes. SSA’s responsiveness to needs would thus be related to program
coverage, discussed earlier. The analysis of outcomes for safe motherhood programs is not included, for lack of access to the HMIS data for FY19.69 See Annexes 6 and 7 for scatter plots of program budget and relevant indicators.
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graduation rates of basic-level students, both girls and overall
(Table 7), also confirms this observation and points to limited
program effectiveness. The correlation with per capita midday
meal budget was observed to be statistically insignificant using
the entire country. However, since the program is not nationally
implemented, outcomes were compared for recipient and
non-recipient local levels: recipient local levels had on average
higher net enrolment ratios than non-recipients (5.0 percentage
points and 5.7 percentage points, respectively, for overall and
girl students, both statistically significant, with no significant
differences observed in graduation rates). Figure 27 focuses on
changes in these indicators over time (rather than levels) and
shows that recipient local levels performed better across most
indicators than non-recipients, although differences were small
and statistically insignificant.
3.3 Social Protection Expenditure at the Local LevelDisaggregated data on program-specific expenditures
for each local level are not available, and the limited
availability and quality of budgetary and expenditure
data limit the analysis. While the budget allocation for each
program funded at the local level is provided on a program
activity level, expenditure is reported along economic and
functional categories. This makes it difficult to analyze program-
wise expenditure patterns among the local levels. Also, each
Institutional De-livery Rate FY18
Net Enrolment Rate Girls FY18
Net Enrolment Rate Total FY18
Graduation Rate Girls FY19
Graduation Rate Total FY19
Per capita safe motherhood 0.5723a
Per capita scholarship 0.153a 0.1635a −0.2162a −0.2023a
Per capita midday meal −0.0128 −0.0184 0.0117 0.0387
Source: Authors estimate based on MOF and MOEST data
Table 7: Link between the Social Protection Budget and Health and Education Outcomes
Figure 27: Changes in Education indicators by Receipt of Midday Meal Program (FY18–FY19)
Source: Authors estimate based on MOEST data.
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local level is expected to prepare an annual plan and budget,
which includes programs funded through both conditional
grants and other discretionary sources, using the prescribed
digitized Public Financial Management (PFM) system
(Subnational Treasury Regulatory Application [SuTRA]). While
many local levels have started using the system, timeliness
and quality remain an issue.70 To prepare annual consolidated
financial reports including provinces and local levels, the Office
of the Auditor General therefore complements information
available in SuTRA with information collected manually
through the district treasury offices.
3.3.1 Overall Expenditure at Local LevelsThe overall expenditure reported by local levels increased
in the first two years of fiscal federalism. Using data on
activities financed by both earmarked and discretionary
sources, expenditures by local levels across all sectors increased
between FY18 and FY19, with a significant increase in the
conditional grant amount (Figure 28). This partly reflects the
progressive inclusion of federally authorized expenditures,
including those for the SSA program, in local-level expenditure
reports in FY19.71 Funds from internal sources also increased,
due to the inclusion of revenue redistribution from federal
and provincial governments in FY19. Part of the increase
also reflects the fact that provincial governments started
transferring more resources to local levels, though they are still
a small share of total expenditures.
On average, local levels execute a significant share of overall
allocated budget, despite capacity constraints. Federal
conditional and equalization grants, local revenue, and federal
authorization were the top sources of expenditure in FY19 (Table
8). The average budget execution rate for local levels in FY19
was around 80 percent (down from 84 percent in FY18). The
execution rate for conditional grants (which finance most health
and education-related social protection programs) was particularly
high, around 90 percent. Execution rates were lower for own
sources and funds received from provincial governments.72
Figure 28: Overall Local-Level Expenditure by Source
Source: MOF
70 The collection of budget details by the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO) for FY20 was delayed and included only summary information on various sources of funds. In a circular issued by the FCGO on October 1, 2020, 550 local levels had used SuTRA to approve their annual budget for FY21, while only 19 had prepared and submitted annual financial reports for FY20 using the system.
71 Because reported expenditures are categorized by functional and economic headings, as mentioned earlier, the analysis of expenditure does not align with the analysis of budget presented earlier by program.
72 Unaccounted/unspent conditional grants are deducted from the following year’s FEG amount.
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3.3.2 Local-Level Expenditures on Social Protection74
Turning to social protection itself, the share of local-
level expenditures increased for social security and
general public services categories. Using the functional
classification, while the average share of health and
education sector spending in local-level expenditure
decreased in FY19, the share of social protection
expenditure increased (Figure 29)75 This is primarily
73 Adapted from Government of Nepal (2019, 23–24).74 There are issues around the quality of data and lack of clarity around reporting of funds from payment authorizations. While the reporting for conditional grant-funded
programs would follow the broad provisions in the annual appropriation bill, the rules regarding those funded through payment authorization by federal or provincial government remain unclear. Indeed, around NPR 23 billion of SSA expenditure were reported by local levels in FY19, significantly less than the actual expenditure of SSA of around NPR 39 billion. Significant variations in the understanding of the rules by the federal and local levels could lead to both underreporting and double reporting of such expenditures under both federal and local level consolidated reports.
75 The actual amounts spent for health and education were reduced by NPR 4 billion and NPR 2 billion, respectively.
SourceReceipt (NPR,
billions)Expenditure
(NPR, billions)Share of Total
Expenditure (%)Expenditure
Ratio (%)
Government of Nepal (Authorization) 54 42 13.6 77.7
Province Government (Authorization) 1 1 0.2 98.8
Nepal Government Conditional Grant 121 109 35.7 90.7
Nepal Government Equalization Grant 85 73 23.8 85.4
Nepal Government Complementary Grant 3 2 0.6 67.6
Nepal Government Special Grant 2 2 0.6 108.5
Province Government Conditional Grant 9 6 1.8 61.2
Province Government Equalization Grant 4 3 0.9 62.6
Province Government Complementary Grant 2 1 0.2 37.3
Province Government Special Grant 1 0 0.1 51.0
Local Government (Balance/internal Source/Revenue Sharing) 101 68 22.3 67.5
OVERALL 383 306 80.1
Table 8: Summary of Local-Level Transfers and Expenditures by Source FY1973
Figure 29: Local-Level Expenditures by Function
Source: MOF
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due to the inclusion of federal government-authorized
expenditures in FY19 discussed earlier.
Between FY18 and FY19, the inclusion of government-
authorized expenditures sharply increased the total
local-level SP expenditure, though discretionary spending
also increased. Discretionary sources of funds include
internal sources and equalization grants from the federal
and provincial governments. Earmarked sources include
conditional, complementary, and special grants as well as
payment authorization expenditures from both the federal
and provincial governments.76 The proportion of discretionary
expenditures in total social protection is seen to have
decreased from 57 percent to about 7 percent between the
two years, primarily led by the inclusion of federally authorized
expenditures (Figure 30). in nominal terms, discretionary
expenditures in social protection actually increased from
around NPR 1.7 billion to NPR 2 billion between the two years.77
Conditional grant-funded SP expenditure was around NPR 1.6
billion in FY19, which is almost twice as large as the allocated
amount reported in the FY19 federal budget. This may be due
to the addition of conditional grants-funded activities midyear
or may point to serious issues in data quality.
Local levels spent a limited share of their discretionary
budgets on social protection, with the exception of
metropolitan cities. Overall, local levels spend about 9
percent of their total budget on social protection (Figure 30),
which is more than the share of social protection in the total
federal government spending (around 3.8 percent). However,
most of these are from earmarked sources, and on average,
local levels spend only 1–2 percent of their discretionary
budget on social protection. Metropolitan cities, however,
spent a higher share (6 percent) of their discretionary budget
on social protection, perhaps to address the rural bias in
program allocations discussed earlier (Annex 8).
Figure 30: SP Expenditure Disaggregation by Source FY18 and FY19
(a) FY18 Total SP Expenditure : NPR 2 billion (b) FY19 Total SP Expenditure : NPR 29 billion
Source: MOF
76 Provincial government-funded SP expenditures represent a very small share of total expenditure.77 Across all sectors, discretionary sources represent around 48 percent of the local-level expenditures but a very small share for social protection.
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More generally, on average, local levels do not allocate
significant discretionary resources to the human
development sectors. Human development represents on
average 59 percent of all local-level earmarked funds but
only 2.2 percent of the discretionary funds (for an average
of 31 percent of total resources; see Figure 31). Within
human development spending by local levels, education
spending dominates and represents 18 percent of the total
local spending (35 percent of total earmarked spending).
Discretionary funds are barely used for health, education,
and social protection (representing 0.5 percent, 0.4 percent,
and 1.3 percent of the total discretionary funds, respectively).
incentivizing better as well as more investments by the local
levels would be key in fully leveraging the opportunities
provided by federalism in the country.
3.4 Summary of Findings and RecommendationsRoles and Functions
� The concurrency of functions, fragmented program
landscape, and lack of policy provisions and standards
are key challenges in the delivery of social protection
in federal Nepal. The concurrency of social protection
functions has increased the need to improve coordination
between agencies at the federal level, as well as with
provinces and local levels and to clearly define roles and
responsibilities. The fragmentation of social protection
programs further poses a major challenge to ensuring
efficiency and quality of service delivery at the local level.
Limited monitoring and evaluation of service delivery
standards for both the federal and local levels is also
an issue. international experience points to the risk of
political tensions between different levels of government
and recentralization of functions. An integrated policy
framework and strong delivery systems are important
to improve coherence, coordination, monitoring, and
oversight.
Recommendations
y Develop and adopt an integrated policy framework that
defines long-term sectoral objectives to guide the choice
Source: MOFNote: ‘Earmarked’ expenditure includes those activities funded through payment authorization and conditional and complementary grants from the federal and provincial levels. ‘Discretionary’ expenditure includes those funded from internal revenue, federal and provincial revenue sharing sources, and federal and provincial equalization grants.
Figure 31: Share of Human Development (HD) Sectors in Earmarked and Discretionary Local-Level Expenditures, FY19
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and design of programs (as discussed in Chapter 2),
establishes roles and responsibilities of the three levels
of government, establishes coordination and oversight
mechanisms, and defines service delivery standards.
y Develop institutional mechanisms for the federal level
to play a coordinating and supporting role in planning,
design, and implementation of social protection roles at
the province and local levels to ensure alignment with
national development objectives and particular needs of
the province and local levels.
y invest in integrated delivery and information systems
to improve coordination and efficiency in program
implementation and monitoring. Establish mechanisms
to support capacity at the local level to adopt and use
such systems for the implementation and monitoring of
national programs.
Allocation of Social Protection Budget
� The federal government continues to hold the largest
portion of the total SP budget. The decentralization
of social protection budget is not at par with that in
other human development sectors. This could reflect
the ongoing policy debate around the allocations of
functions and funds in the context of concurrent rights
and also perhaps concerns related to the adequacy of the
fiscal accountability mechanisms and the capacity of the
local levels to manage the large SSA program. Continued
centralization of the SP budget is not a problem in itself,
as global experiences also suggest advantages to the
federal-level funding and managing to ensure equitable
access to a core set of programs. However, it is important
to ensure that the SP budget allocations by the federal
government align with these goals, and institutional
arrangements and systems are established to ensure
local service delivery follows the national standards and
guidelines.
� Per capita allocations for social protection programs
on average are not fully aligned with equity and
poverty reduction goals and furthermore are
not responsive to the needs of the local levels.
A multivariate analysis of different factors affecting
per capita budget allocation for the four main social
assistance programs (SSA, safe motherhood, scholarship,
and midday meal) highlights the limited correlation
with poverty and the negative correlation with more
urban local levels and those in the Terai region (Annex
7). Part of this variation might be linked to significant
under-coverage in urban areas and the Terai. The design
of the programs and budget allocation processes
both contribute to inequity in the allocation of the SP
budget and limit the impact SP investments can have on
achieving their objectives.
Recommendations
y Systematically review and revise the design and
budgeting processes for key national programs so that
they play a more explicit role in reducing poverty and
addressing geographic inequities. This would require
a sectoral policy framework that defines the scope
and objectives of social assistance programs, clear
institutional roles and responsibilities, and a defined
timeline for the implementation of the identified reforms
in improving the allocation of programs.
Social Protection Expenditure at the Local Level
� Lack of program-level expenditure data along with
poor quality of reported data pose major challenges
to analyzing social protection expenditures. Local-
level expenditure data do not provide program-level
information, and manual collection in many local levels
can affect the quality of data. The lack of local capacity
to fulfill basic accounting and financial management
functions potentially contributes to data limitations.
Variations in reporting requirements for programs funded
through different modalities also affect the consistency
and completeness of data across the local levels.
� Local-level discretionary expenditures in human
development sectors, including social protection,
remain low on average. Human development sector
expenditures (health, education, and social protection)
constitute around 32 percent of the total local-level
expenditures, but the majority were funded through
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earmarked sources. Similarly, social protection
represented around 9 percent of the total local-level
expenditures, mostly from earmarked sources or
payment authorizations. Only 1.3 percent of all local-level
discretionary sources were used for social protection,
though metropolitan cities spend an average of 6
percent.
Recommendations
y invest in strengthening integrated physical and financial
progress reporting systems to allow better tracking
of program expenditures. This needs to be supported
by the establishment of clear rules on the reporting
of expenditures of social assistance programs funded
through various modalities and sources, including by
streamlining budgetary and expenditure codes.
y incentivize investments by the local level in social
protection, and human development in general, to
leverage the opportunities provided by federalism to
achieve national goals. One way to achieve the latter
would be by defining clear rules, standards, and processes
in federal program guidelines for the provincial and local
levels to add or top off benefits. incentive mechanisms
could also be built into the allocation framework for
intergovernmental transfers that reward the local levels
spending more of their discretionary funds in the health,
education, and social assistance sectors.
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Planning and Budgeting for Social Protection - Analysis of Processes and Challenges
CHAPTER 4.
Figure 32: Locations of Local Levels Visited by the Field Research Team
78 The chapter focuses on SSAs, school scholarships, safe motherhood program, and midday meals. It does not focus on civil servant pensions or on the PMEP whose budget allocation process was evolving at the time of this analysis.
79 The qualitative field survey was conducted with purposive sampling, to cover at least one local level in each province and focused on the local levels included in the Federalism Capacity Needs Assessment Survey. Seven rural local levels were selected, based on population, area, and reports of additional SP programming. Two metropolitan cities and a sub-metropolitan city were selected in Province 2, Lumbini Province, and Gandaki Province. A team led by Gyanu Sharma, Mamata Pokharel, Mahima Poudel, and Roshan Sedhai led the field work and prepared the background paper upon which this chapter is based.
Federalization brought about significant changes in the
processes by which budget is allocated, transferred, and
spent. While the main social protection programs continue
to be funded by the federal government, the implementation
has largely been devolved to local levels and to a lesser
extent to provinces. The flow of fund and implementation
modalities of these national programs have also changed in
the new federal context. Furthermore, the provinces and local
levels are increasingly adding programs, whether as top-
ups to national ones or as separate interventions, targeted
to vulnerable groups within their jurisdiction. The new
institutional context, together with variations in the priorities
and capacities of the three tiers of governments, adds
complexity to the planning, budgeting and implementation
processes for social protection programs.
This chapter provides an overview of the planning,
budgeting, and fund flow processes for key social
protection programs at the federal, province, and local
levels.78 The findings are based on document review and in-
depth interviews conducted at the federal ministries of health
and education, provincial ministries in Province 2 and Gandaki
Province, and 10 local levels spread through the country (map
of the field sites shown in Figure 32).79
4.1 Processes at the Federal Level4.1.1 Planning and BudgetingThe budgeting process for all major social protection
programs is centralized, that is, all allocation decisions are
made at the federal level. Most programs are legacy programs
from the pre-federalism context and continue to be funded
through sectoral programs under specific line ministries, for
example, Home Affairs, Health and Education. Some of these
programs have been devolved to local levels, with funds
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80 Starting in FY21, the PMEP will transition from being centrally funded to funding through conditional grants.81 Safe motherhood program is also delivered through district and regional hospitals under provinces. Provinces receive the funds for the program through federal
conditional grants (in FY20, around 25 percent of the program’s budget was transferred to the provincial level and 75 percent to the local levels). 82 CERID (2017) claims that the number of basic-level students in EMIS was lower than that in school registers and that the number present in the classrooms was even
lower, suggesting absenteeism or inflated school registers. The National Planning Commission (2012) had found that scholarship budgets were often higher than required because schools inflated numbers.
transferred as conditional grants, while the budget for others
remains with their respective federal agencies. Although the
fund flow, implementation, and reporting processes for these
two categories differ significantly, the allocation of funds is
still done centrally by the relevant line ministries.
The annual budgeting cycle at the federal level
follows the provisions in the Financial Procedures and
Fiscal Accountability Act, 2020 (Annex 9). The MOF, in
coordination with the NPC, initiates the budget preparation
cycle in January by preparing estimates of total income and
budget ceilings for each federal line ministry and for different
transfers to the province and local levels. Based on the ceilings
received for fiscal equalization and revenue redistribution,
the NNRFC prepares recommendations for allocation of these
funds to the provinces and local levels. The line ministries
then allocate program-specific budgets (including for
conditional grant-funded activities) after mid-February. The
notification of the allocated budget is then provided to local
levels when the annual budget is approved in the parliament
in early June. This leaves little time for the local governments
to incorporate these activities into their annual work plan and
finalize the budget, which often leads to delays.
The SSA program continues to rely on the processes of
planning, budgeting, and fund-flow similar to that used
pre-federalism. The DONiDCR, under the MOHA, is responsible
for the management and administration of the program. The
SSA planning and budgeting processes are aligned with the
annual application and enrolment period, as prescribed by
the program guidelines. Since the transition to federalism, the
department has mandated the entry of beneficiary information
by the local levels into its MiS as a prerequisite for the allocation
of the program budget. The budgeting process is based on
MiS data entered by the local levels and the standard transfer
amount for each category of beneficiary. To date, it does not
include provisions for management or implementation costs.
DONiDCR, through the MOHA, then requests the budget to
the MOF and NPC. Each local level is informed of the budget
allocated at the beginning of each fiscal year. Any changes
to the allocation during the fiscal year have to be made by
updating the MiS and requesting additional funds.
The majority of the other social protection programs
are budgeted and transferred to the local and province
levels as part of larger programs, as conditional grants.
This category includes the safe motherhood program, school
scholarship, midday meals, and so on.80 These programs
are components of broader sectoral programs in health
and education, and the respective federal line ministries
are responsible for budget allocation. With primary health
services and education up to secondary level devolved to the
local level, the budget for education and primary health-
related programs has also been devolved to the local levels.81
Procedures followed by the line ministries in establishing
conditional grants—which areas to cover and by
which budget amount—vary significantly, resulting in
inefficiencies. The NNRFC prepares an annual document to
guide conditional grants allocation, but it does not provide
clear rules and procedures. Sectoral line ministries use their
MiS, with inputs from the local levels to allocate resources, so
data timeliness and quality issues can lead to allocations that
are not aligned with the local needs. The sectoral ministries
visited during the study did not have standard ministry-level
guidelines for the allocation process, relying on institutional
knowledge and pre-federalism practices. For the school
scholarship and midday meals programs under the School
Sector Development Project (SSDP), the MOEST’s Center
for Education and Human Resources Development initiates
the budgeting applying unit costs to the number of eligible
students in the education MiS (EMiS). While data quality has
been improving, the quality and accuracy of student data
have been a point of concern.82 For the safe motherhood
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program, the MOHP defines the program budget considering
the ceiling received from the MOF, the activities that are
devolved, and the population and geography of each area
to estimate the amounts for each local level. The health MiS
(HMiS) is often not used in the process, because it does not
capture beneficiary-level details of the safe motherhood
program and because of delays in data entry, which can lead
to inefficient allocations.83
4.1.2 Fund FlowConditional grants are released to the provincial and local
levels consolidated funds on a quarterly basis. After the
first installment is deposited at the beginning of the fiscal
year, the release of subsequent installments is conditional
upon the submission of expenditure reports for the previous
quarter. Furthermore, any changes to the amount allocated
in the conditional grant breakdown need to be approved by
the federal ministry, and additional amounts are provided as
payment authorization (not as additional conditional grants).
While conditional grants are directly transferred through
intergovernmental transfers, programs which remain under
the federal budget, like the SSA, need to release payment
authorization for each local level to receive the funds through
the District Treasury Controller Office (DTCO) office, for every
installment. Clearance of the previous installment is required
for the release of additional installment of payments for this
modality as well.
4.1.3 Monitoring and ReportingFinancial reporting of federally budgeted and conditional
grant-funded programs differs in their timing and
procedures. For budgets received for conditional grant-
funded program, local levels report to the DTCO on a
quarterly and annual basis. The relevant sectoral ministries
at the federal level receive the financial report only after the
annual reporting for the fiscal year is completed. For programs
funded through payment authorization, the ministry can
receive the payment reports through the FCGO, but no
standardized or automated process was observed for the SSA
program.
The processes of budgeting and reporting use different
categorizations, which constrain improvements in
monitoring. For funds transferred as conditional grants,
the financial reports submitted by the local levels are
presented using economic and functional categories for each
expenditure. However, expenditures are not linked to specific
programs or activities (as they are during the allocation
process). Rather, expenditures from all programs and sectors
are lumped together in the economic or functional categories.
Overall, as underlined by UNiCEF (2021), the systematic
codification of social protection allocations and expenditure
is critical to provide the information required for sectoral
planning and monitoring.
Program MISs support physical progress reporting,
but this reporting is not linked to financial progress
reporting. The SSA MiS is used to measure physical
progress, manage beneficiary database, and track bank-
based transfers (it does not record manual payments).
Similarly, the EMiS and the HMiS capture details on
scholarship recipients and the number of institutional
births. But none of these systems can be reconciled with
the financial reports submitted by the local levels for
expenditures.
4.2 Processes at the Provincial LevelProvince-level governments share the concurrent
function to deliver social protection programs, and
few have initiated new programs in their constituency.
Karnali Province and Province 2 have initiated programs to
encourage investment in girls’ education and discourage
early marriage.84 Karnali Province has also announced a Chief
Minister Employment Program similar to the federal PMEP,
with guidelines aligned closely with the federal ones but with
limited coordination.85 Some provinces, like Gandaki, have
83 Based on an interview conducted with officials at the Ministry of Health and Population, and MOHP (2018).84 The ‘Bank account for daughter, protection for life’ program provides transfers to girls, under the condition that they remain unmarried and have completed secondary
school by the time they turn 20; the ‘Save daughters, educate daughters’ program provides girl students with bicycles and education funds and provides information on gender-based violence.
85 Based on a conversation at the federal MOLESS.
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also started investing in elderly care homes and services.
Some provinces have reportedly shown interest in providing
programs such as the Beti Bachao Beti Padao Program
(UNiCEF 2021).
Low institutional capacity and limited legal and policy
frameworks affect the functionality of the provincial level
governments.86 While the federal and local levels continue to
perform relatively similar functions of program administration
and service delivery as in the pre-federal context, the role of
provincial governments as a new level of government remains
unclear and underdeveloped. Many province-level policies
need to align with and follow federal ones. However, delays
in the formulation of many policies (including in education
and health) restrict province-level governments’ ability to
establish their jurisdiction and the institutional capacity and
processes to fulfill their functions. Representatives of Gandaki
Province’s Ministry of Social Development, for instance, cite
the lack of clarity on policy and guidelines on the jurisdiction
of province governments, relationship between local and
province governments, limited resources, and low capacity
as key constraints. There also appears to be some lack of
clarity on allocating some functions across province-level
institutions themselves.87
4.2.1 Planning and BudgetingProvince-level planning and budgeting processes
remain unclear, varying with political leadership and
its relationship with the province-level bureaucracy. For
example, the Ministry of Social Development is required
to prepare annual plans and budget, based on guidelines
from the provincial planning commission and under the
supervision of the provincial MOF. But at the time of field
visits, Gandaki Province and Province 2 did not have a
functioning planning commission in place and had not
prepared periodic plans. At times, this allowed for greater
political influence in the selection and budgeting of programs
and for frictions to emerge between the bureaucracy and the
political leadership.88
4.2.2 Fund Flow and ImplementationProvincial governments are responsible for
implementing some decentralized federal programs,
funded through conditional grants. The social
protection programs transferred to provinces include the
microenterprise development and poverty alleviation
(MEDPA) program, people’s residence program, higher
education scholarship for disabled students, and parts
of the safe motherhood program (as discussed earlier).
However, lack of capacity and clarity on guidelines on fund
flow arrangements has led to issues in the delivery of the
program through hospitals.89
“There is actually very little work for us to do. Our roles and responsibilities remain to be defined. The government isn’t paying enough attention in institutionalizing and strengthening the directorate. More importantly, the existing laws and regulations make it extremely difficult to function on our own. The local bodies are in charge of schools, while the center occupying other policy level and monitoring works. Local bodies do not cooperate when we go for inspection and monitoring. They say they are autonomous, thus free to do everything. And they are not entirely wrong. The government should clearly demarcate boundaries of our works.”
Education Directorate, Ministry of Social Development, Province 2
86 The observations in this section are based on interviews conducted in Province 2 and Gandaki Province.87 For example, although the province Ministry of Social Development should be responsible for health, education, and social development and protection, the Chief
Minister’s Employment Program in Karnali and the ‘Save Daughters, Educate Daughters’ program in Province 2 are based in the offices of the province chief ministers.88 Gandaki Province displayed a more comprehensive planning and budgeting process: line agencies and divisions were asked to submit a list of plans and programs
within the given budget ceiling, in consultation with stakeholders including members of the planning commission, members of political parties, civil society organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
89 https://kathmandupost.com/health/2019/03/19/pregnant-and-new-mothers-deprived-of-government-announced-incentives.
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Provincial governments also transfer resources to
the local levels (conditional and fiscal equalization
grants) and directly to service delivery facilities,
resulting in overlapping accountability and
coordination challenges.90 Although primary health
services and schools up to the secondary level are under
the jurisdiction of local levels, the concurrency of these
functions in the constitution provides some gray areas. For
example, provinces receive federal funds under the SSDP,
although the program is implemented by the local level.
Observations from the field suggest issues in coordinating
activities between the province and local levels are leading
some province governments to transfer funds directly
to facilities, bypassing the local levels. in both provinces
visited, province-level governments were directly investing
in facilities managed by the local levels, mostly in the
form of infrastructure development, outside of the local
planning process. Some local levels were not even aware
of the investments made by the provinces in the facilities
under their jurisdiction.
4.2.3 Monitoring and ReportingMonitoring and reporting functions and capacity vary
between provinces and are affected by lack of clarity on
jurisdiction between the province and local levels.91 The
provincial ministries directly monitor and supervise facilities
and institutions under their purview, such as hospitals,
technical training centers, or district offices. But financial
reporting remains problematic, for instance, with facilities
observed to not have submitted reports from the previous
year at the time of the field visit. The lack of reporting by the
provincial government on grants received from the federal
government in the previous fiscal year resulted in the federal
treasury not releasing the intergovernmental transfers for
the following fiscal year. As a result, salaries were not being
paid well into the first quarter and expenditures for some
programs were stalled (such as the safe motherhood program
in regional hospitals). Finally, while provinces are supposed to
monitor schools and health facilities and do receive funding
for this through conditional grants, the role of provinces
has been questioned as going against the spirit of the
Constitution, thereby curtailing their ability to monitor.
4.3 Processes at the Local LevelThe local levels play a critical role in the delivery of the
national social protection program and have started
allocating some of their discretionary budget to the sector.
Local levels have the mandate of implementing programs
financed by a mix of earmarked funds (including conditional
grants and releases through payment authorization) and
their discretionary funds (including from FEGs, revenue
redistribution, royalty form natural resources, and own-source
or internal revenues), although use of discretionary sources
remains limited, as discussed in Chapter 3.
4.3.1 Planning and BudgetingLocal levels are expected to follow a standard planning
and budgeting process to prepare annual budgets and
work plans for both earmarked and discretionary funds.
The process starts after receiving the budget ceiling for FEGs
and revenue sharing from the federal and provincial levels
and the projection of internal revenue collection from the
Revenue Advisory Committee. Ward committees and sectoral
committees then prioritize projects and activities and submit
their proposal to the local-level Budget and Program Planning
Committee. After consultations, the committee formulates
their draft annual budget and program, which also includes
estimates of activities funded by conditional grants. The
local-level executive office is then responsible for approving
the budget and submitting to the local assembly for approval
(Figure 33 and Annex 9).
In practice, these processes are not uniformly followed.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the sequence of activities
is not uniformly followed, for example, budget ceilings do not
always precede project selections at the ward and sectoral
levels. Additional programming in social protection (and
health and education) were observed to primarily come from
90 More on fund flow to service delivery facilities in the following section on local levels.91 Provinces also receive fiscal equalization and conditional grants following similar processes, as described in the section on local levels. Some of the issues related to the
transfer and reporting processes also apply to provinces.
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Loca
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Loc
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Loc
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
the mayor/chairperson or chief administrative officer rather
than through sectoral or ward-level consultations. There also
seems to be some variation in understanding whether SSA
funds, part of the federal budget, need to be included in the
local-level plan.
Activities funded by conditional grants at times may
require additional local funding, which can result in
delays in the finalization of local budgets. Local levels
only receive conditional grant allocations in early June, long
after the local planning process has started (Annex 9). As
described earlier, conditional grants are not always aligned
with local needs and at times require the local levels to
allocate additional resources to ensure service delivery. This
gives the executive office a short period of around two weeks
to include conditional grant-funded activities in its budget
and fill any gaps from discretionary sources, which can cause
delays in the finalization of local budgets.
Low capacity constrains the use of evidence-based
approaches to design and plan new programs. Only
three out of the ten local levels visited had prepared a
profile of their jurisdiction, based on data on households
and facilities, and only Bannigadhi-Jayagadh was using it
for planning purposes. The lack of usability of the MiSs, as
well as limited understanding of how such data could be
used, restrict their use in the planning process. As a result,
additional programming is often made without inputs from
sectoral staff and without an explicit focus on a specific
outcome (see example of Butwal’s top-up to senior citizen
allowance in Box 6). The limited capacity to analyze, plan, and
design at the local level makes central guidance/support for
program design and use of data critical to ensure local-level
investments in social protection have sustained impact and
contribute to national development goals.
Additional social protection programming through local-
level discretionary funds is usually top-ups or additions
to existing programs. Observations in the local levels visited
suggest that the local levels show some interest in improving
the coverage and quality of social protection services. Table
9 suggests that most investments were attached to existing
programs either in the form of increased amounts (top-
ups) or in the form of additional in-kind benefits: Butwal
and Pokhara topped up the senior citizen allowances, and
others had added incentives to improve maternal and child
care like free ambulance services, cash top-ups, in-kind
transfers for antenatal visits, or care package for new mothers.
Additional scholarships, targeted to disadvantaged and poor
communities and to higher education, were also observed
in some local levels, although most programs seem to focus
on elderly and pregnant or lactating mothers. The local levels
also funded daycare centers, senior citizen recognition and
celebration events, and elderly care homes.
Municipality Province Additional Programs, Benefits, and Services
Helambu Rural Municipality (RM)
Bagmati (3)
� increase in safe-motherhood travel allowance
� Free ambulance service for pregnant women
� Higher education scholarship to students from discretionary fund
Chichila RM 1
� Additional allowance for the elderly above 80 years
� Stipend for postnatal care (PNC) home visits by health post workers
� Health worker allowance for PNC visits
Butwal Metropolitan Lumbini (5)
� Door-to-door health checkups for the elderly
� Additional Dashain allowance for senior citizens (NPR 2,000)
� Medicine pack for new mothers
� Ward-level scholarship program
Table 9: Additional Programs for Social Protection at Selected Local Levels
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Finally, the local-level planning and budgeting process
often has limited participation of, or focus on, poor and
marginalized communities, at times even creating barriers
for the vulnerable to access services. Federalism can only
lead to a more inclusive and equitable society if planning
processes are inclusive and prioritize programs for the poor and
vulnerable. in the pre-federal context, local bodies like the Village
Development Committees allocated some resources for groups
such as the Dalits, women, or the disabled. in most local levels
visited, this practice of allocating resources and the community-
and ward-level consultations does not seem to have been carried
over. in areas where marginalized groups were more organized,
their concerns had a much better chance of being addressed. For
example, in Bannigadhi-Jayagadh, the local Dalit network had a
meeting with the ward leadership to propose programs for the
upcoming year. At the other extreme, some local levels added
barriers for some of the most vulnerable to access services. For
instance, Badhaiyatal made it mandatory for individuals to have
a ‘toilet card’ that certifies they have built a toilet, before they
can receive SSA benefits, which likely affects the most poor and
landless, who may not be able to comply.
4.3.2 Fund Flow and ImplementationDecentralization of program delivery functions has
resulted in significant changes in fund flow and
implementation arrangements (Annex 10). in the federal
context, although line ministries decide on allocations for
programs funded by conditional grants, the funds themselves
are directly transferred to local-level consolidated funds
(through district treasury controller offices). Service delivery
facilities, previously managed through the district-level offices
of federal ministries, are now directly under the local levels.
Municipality Province Additional Programs, Benefits, and Services
Durga Bhagawati RM 2 � Bicycles for girl students of Grades 9 and 10
� Houses built for the endangered Dom community
Birgunj Metropolitan 2 � Midday meals to students up to Grade 5
� LPG distribution in freed bonded laborers in ‘kamaiyaa’ community
Bannigadhi Jayagadh RM Sudurpaschim (7)
� Ward scholarships
� Skill-building program for single women and Dalit community
� Allowance for HiV positive individuals
� Meeting allowance for mothers’ group meetings
� Birth registration allowance
Badhaiyataal RM Lumbini (5)
� Nutrition grant for new mothers
� Midday meals to ECD center children
� Municipality-level scholarships
� Monthly allowance and bicycles for female community health volunteers (FCHVs)
Pokhara Metropolitan Gandaki (4) � 10% increase in elderly allowance
� ‘Safe mother, safe child’ program
Kathekhola RM Gandaki (4)
� Additional NPR 1,500 grant for new mothers from local levels
� Egg distribution as an incentive for pregnant women for their PNC visits
� Midday meals to ECD center children
Chaukune RM Karnali (6)
� Basket of items for new mothers from the local level, including mosquito nets,
under Deputy Chair’s Safe Motherhood program
� Midday meals from the local level
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All local levels visited explained that, as they gained experience, they were becoming more efficient in planning and budgeting. But this is a slow process, which can result in inefficiencies or disruptions in services.
A challenge in nearly all local levels visited was the lack of data, as well as underutilization of existing data, to plan or measure progress. Bannigadhi-Jayagadh in Sudurpaschim Province was the only local level which had created a statistical profile of its area—with data on demographics, development indicators, and facilities. And none of the local levels visited had a multiyear plan or development indicator targets. Lack of data and technical planning can jeopardize programs, as illustrated by two examples:
� in Butwal, a program was approved the previous fiscal year to distribute a holiday allowance of NPR 2,000 to all senior citizens over 70 years. Our interviews showed that the program was approved on the basis of estimates, rather than actual data, leading to assumptions that the
final cost would be ‘about 25–30 lakhs’. The program eventually cost more than eight times that amount and had to be discontinued. if they had used the MiS, planners would have had an accurate estimate of the number of eligible senior citizens, realized it was not affordable, and designed a more realistic program.
� in the rural local level of Chichila, 30–40 percent of the local-level discretionary budget for the ongoing fiscal year was allocated for education. The previous chief administrative officer championed education, and the local level agreed to celebrate the fiscal year as Education Year. The local level consulted with head teachers of schools to identify needs. As a result, new teachers were hired. Their salaries amounted to 30 percent of the local level’s discretionary budget. The following fiscal year, the local level wanted to invest in health, but their ability to do so was limited since a significant share of discretionary funds had de facto been pre-committed for years (to continue paying teachers recruited earlier).
Box 6: Limited Analysis Can Result in Unsustainable Programming
The funds that local levels receive from provincial and
federal governments follow different timelines, creating
complexity and increasing the workload of local levels
(Figure 34). For intergovernmental grants, the MOF directly
releases the first installment a month into the beginning
of the new FY. FEGs are then released on a quarterly basis
(after submission of the expenditure report to the DTCO). For
conditional grants, a first tranche is released, representing
one-third of the allocated amount. The remaining amounts
are released on the basis of expenditure reporting, using a
timeline different from that of the equalization grants. Funds
transferred through a payment authorization are channeled
through the DTCO on a quadrimestral basis (for the SSA).
Subsequent releases are contingent upon submission of
payment reports from the previous installment. Revenue
redistribution is calculated at the beginning of the FY on the
recommendation of the NNRFC and subsequently released
into local-level consolidated funds on a monthly basis. Since
local levels typically use a combination of these sources to
finance social protection services, the differences in timelines
represent an administrative burden for the local levels to
deliver services.
Increased mandates of local levels for service delivery
have not been matched by increased institutional
capacity and human resources. Federalism makes local
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Fig
ure
34:
inte
rgov
ernm
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
levels responsible for managing multiple programs, services,
and facilities previously managed by district-level offices
of sectoral ministries.92 Schools, health facilities, and ward
offices, along with other technical service centers, are now
managed by local-level offices.93 However, local delivery
capacity is constrained by lack of technical staff, clarity on
roles, and performance management (Box 7) (World Bank
and UNDP 2019). For example, disruptions in the delivery of
disability identification cards, required to enroll in the SSA
program, were observed in most local levels visited. Similarly,
the introduction of an online civil registration system
generated confusion among ward secretaries in some local
levels, which led to some Dalit children being excluded from
child grant. Both human resources and institutional capacity
constraints were seen to be the main sources of service
delivery disruptions in these cases.
Service delivery is affected by the multiplicity of modalities
for transferring funds to points of service. Social protection
programs vary in the frequency and timing of services
or transfers: scholarships are provided once a year, at the
beginning of the school year; midday meals are provided
throughout the school year; safe motherhood benefits are
provided at four antenatal care visits and after birth; and
SSAs are provided every four months. The regularity of these
transfers is critical to the effectiveness of social protection
programs, as they provide beneficiaries with a reliable source
of income. in practice, there can be variations in the timing of
92 See Annex 9 for diagrammatic representation of the changes in institutional and fund flow arrangements. 93 See Annex 11 for mapping of institutional arrangement for service delivery at the local levels.
Source: Nepal Administrative Staff College and Georgia State University. 2019, viii-ix.
The Federal Capacity Needs Assessment (FCNA) survey, implemented to better understand the state of operations and finances and the capacity of sub-federal governments, identified a number of capacity gaps. Both provincial and local governments generally have the basic capacity to ‘keep the lights on’, which is commendable given that some of those government units were recently created. However, when it comes to the quality of local management, a number of critical elements were missing in many jurisdictions. Five such areas emerge in the survey: (a) medium-term planning, (b) clear roles and responsibilities of individual staff, (c) procurement, (c) managing performance of organizational units and individuals, and (e) gender equality and social inclusion.
in terms of human resources, seconded staff fill less than half of the positions in local government offices. More positions are filled by contractual
staff and those carried over from pre-existing local government bodies. However, the latter tend to be either general public administration or support staff. As a result, many high-skill technical positions, such as engineers, lawyers, and accountants, remain vacant.
About half of the local governments have written job descriptions for all positions in their organizational structure, and only about 15 percent of non-metropolitan local cities do not have written job descriptions for any positions. Less than one-third of the local governments report having their own laws/policies for managing their staff, in terms of leave approval, performance appraisal, reporting rules, and so on. More than two-thirds of the local governments follow staff performance review mechanisms, while less than one-fifth never do. However, over 40 percent of the local levels never practice sanctions for underperformance.
Box 7: Excerpts from ‘Nepal: Capacity Needs Assessment for the Transition to Federalism’ Report
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SSA payments, due to delays in the release of the payment by
the federal ministry. The Government’s decision to transition
to electronic bank-based payments for SSA, however, promises
improvements in the timely delivery and further encourages
government-to-people (G2P) transfer systems in other
programs (Box 8). For programs funded by conditional grants,
issues in timing of service can arise because of local-level
inefficiencies.94 For the safe motherhood program, variations
in the modality of fund flow between the local level and the
health facility seemed to affect program implementation.95
Standardization of fund flow modality between the local level
and facilities is necessary for a more efficient and reliable
delivery of programs.
Service delivery facilities, schools in particular, receive
funds from multiple sources directly, resulting in unclear
94 While funds for scholarships are often transferred to schools upon request, there was variation in the implementation of midday meals in the local levels visited. In Helambu, the school visited had received funding for midday meals but had not started the program, in the absence of guidelines on implementation. In Durga Bhagawati, the local level had not released funds to the schools, even toward the end of the year.
95 Three modalities were observed: (a) advance payment to facility, with periodic reporting/reconciliation by facility; (b) facilities covering expenses from their own resources, then being reimbursed by local levels; and (c) facilities registering new mothers after birth and requesting funds on the basis of actual deliveries, resulting in delayed receipt of benefits by mothers.
Box 8: Progress in Payment Systems
Nepal has made significant progress on digitization of payments for social assistance, supported by the expansion of bank branches across the country. improving access to finance and electronic payment of G2P transfers is a priority of the Government, as stated in the 15th Five-Year Plan.
Building on a pilot program implemented in 2014 in three districts, as of January 2021, more than half of the local levels now use banks to deliver SSAs (386 out of 753 local levels). For social protection, the Government is requiring all local levels to transition to payment of SSA via banks within FY22.
The electronic payment of SSA is guided by a national ePayment strategy which enables each local level to contract banks to deliver SSA in compliance with prescribed conditions (including opening zero balance accounts and home delivery of cash or provision of nominees for beneficiaries over the age of 90 or those with full disability). An MiS-generated list of beneficiaries is provided to the contracted banks. Every four months, the local levels provide a lump-sum equivalent to the total benefit amounts to the banks, which then deposit
allowances into individual accounts.
The digitization of beneficiary lists and the transition to electronic payment have helped remove duplicates and ghost beneficiaries and improved the timeliness of delivery. While the digitization of payment has improved efficiency, some operational challenges remain. These include last-mile delivery where some beneficiaries must travel long distances to reach the bank, as well as real-time reconciliation of payments in the program information system.
The PMEP is another large program which makes payments into beneficiary bank accounts in most local levels.
Public and private investments in electronic payment systems (such as the planned integrated national payment platform and the development of mobile money infrastructure) will further strengthen G2P transfer systems. Lessons from the SSA and the PMEP’s adoption of digital electronic payments will help shape payment systems in the future for a broader set of programs.
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Gra
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( Con
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Fun
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Del
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
accountability structures. As mentioned earlier, some
facilities receive funds from sources other than local-level
budgets (Figure 35). in addition to federal and provincial
programs, NGOs and donors also support schools and
health facilities directly.96 While most of this additional
support focuses on infrastructure, it should be included in
local budgets and coordinated by the local levels to ensure
allocative efficiency and accountability.
Most individuals report increased ownership or
connection with local-level services, although some
grievances remain on the quality of services and facilities.
The expectations regarding the local levels are high, though
after three years, they may be waning in some parts. Some,
like those living in remote rural local levels like Chichila,
report satisfaction with no longer having to go to the
district for every transaction. Dalits in Bannigadhi, senior
citizens in Durga Bhagawati, and visually impaired women in
Badhaiyatal reported feeling more connected to their wards
and local-level offices. Focus groups participants reported
having a greater say on matters of public importance, due
to their ability to participate in public audit and hearings on
budgets and individual projects. This is in line with the local
levels’ efforts to expand the space for civic engagement for
Dalits, community leaders, the elderly, and women’s networks.
4.3.3 Monitoring and ReportingThe presence of elected representatives has improved
the monitoring of facilities and service delivery. Most of
the local levels visited showed increased engagement and
monitoring by elected leaders. in some cases, biometric
attendance monitor had been installed to monitor
teacher and health staff attendants, leading to decrease in
absenteeism. SSA delivery in wards were also facilitated by
ward committee members, found to be more responsive to
beneficiaries’ needs. Although instances of conflict between
ward committees and school and health facility management
committees were observed, service delivery was not affected.
96 Federal programs like MP Constituency Development Fund and some district-level offices of the federal education ministry were observed to directly invest in facilities. Province-level examples were provided in the previous section.
Reporting from service delivery facilities to local-level
offices was observed to be mostly manual and paper based
and to vary in frequency and processes. A combination of
monthly, quarterly, and ad hoc reporting appears to be the
practice in many local levels. Reporting on SSAs follows a more
defined timeline, as wards are required to clear the advance
payment received from the local levels in a specified timeline
after payments (when those are manual). Reporting on bank-
based transfers of SSA is usually done directly to the local-level
office after the bank made the deposits. However, almost all
reporting from schools and health facilities to the local levels
was observed to be paper based and manual, creating a heavy
burden for the local levels with limited staff to compile and
prepare local-level reports.
Timelines for reporting of expenditures also vary for
different funding sources. The Annual Federal Appropriation
Act makes it mandatory for the local levels to submit
expenditure reports for fiscal equalization and conditional
grants to receive subsequent installments. But the timing for
reporting differs, following the fund flow timing described
earlier. Programs funded through payment authorization
follow yet a different timeline for reporting through the
DTCO. Finally, any unaccounted or unspent conditional grant
amount is to be deducted from the following year’s FEG
amount. These different processes create inefficiencies and a
heavy administrative burden for the local levels.
Reporting on physical implementation is done through
multiple information systems and limited by low capacity.
HMiS, EMiS, and the SSA MiS need to be regularly updated
to allow federal sectoral ministries to monitor progress in
the delivery of the programs and plan for the following fiscal
year. in most local levels visited, human resource capacity
(a combination of the limited number of staff and the low
capacity of existing staff) severely affected the quality and
timeliness of reporting.
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4.4 Summary of Findings and RecommendationsPlanning and Budgeting
� Planning and budgeting processes for the main
national social assistance programs is to a large
extent similar to those in the pre-federal context,
although fund flow and reporting mechanisms have
changed for most. Sectoral federal ministries continue
to be responsible for allocating budgets for their
programs, which have been devolved to the local levels
and funded through conditional grants. Budget for the
SSA program remains with the MOHA at the federal level
and is transferred as payment authorizations. The budget
for SSA can be revised relatively easily midyear, based on
updates in the program MiS by the local levels, while that
for conditional grant-funded programs is relatively more
difficult to revise.
� Reliance on weak information systems and limited
data and limited participation of the local levels
contribute to inefficiencies in program budget
allocations. Sectoral MiSs used for program budget
allocations are at different levels of development and
face issues in terms of timeliness and quality of data,
resulting in allocations that are not fully aligned with
the needs of the local levels. Moreover, the participation
of the local levels in the budgeting process is limited to
updating the sectoral information systems, limiting the
ability of the budgeting process to respond to the local
needs. The sectoral ministries visited during the study
also did not have standard ministry-level guidelines
for the allocation process and relied on institutional
knowledge and pre-federalism practices.
� Limited local capacity to use evidence to plan and
budget for locally funded programs constrains their
effectiveness and sustainability. Anecdotal evidence
suggests that additional social assistance programming
by the local level was decided with limited inputs from
sectoral staff and limited use of information. This had led
in some cases to local levels canceling their programs
after a while, due to lack of funding. The lack of guidance
and support for the development of subnational
programs led to ineffective program selection and
design. Observations from the field also revealed
variations in the degree of participation of poor and
vulnerable groups in the planning process.
� Lack of a harmonized planning processes across
federal, provincial, and local levels can result in
delays and disruptions. For instance, local levels only
receive conditional grant allocations in early June, long
after their planning process has started. This gives the
executive office a small window of time to include
conditional grant-funded activities in their annual
budget and address any gaps with discretionary sources,
sometimes delaying the finalization of local budgets.
� Functionality of the province governments is
hampered by low institutional capacity and
underdeveloped legal and policy frameworks. While
federal governments and local levels continue to perform
functions relative to those in the pre-federal context,
the role of provincial governments as a ‘new’ level of
government remains unclear and underdeveloped.
Delays in the formulation of many policies restrict the
ability of province-level governments to establish their
jurisdiction and the institutional capacity and processes.
Recommendations
y Anchor the budget allocation processes for federal
programs in outcome- and evidence-based and
participatory process, to ensure allocative efficiency
and responsiveness of the budget to local needs. in
particular, sectoral ministries should prepare guidelines
for conditional grants allocation that clarify the process
and framework, use of data collected through sectoral
information systems, and the role of local levels in the
process, among others.
y Align the budgeting processes and timelines for all
three levels so that the province and local levels are
76
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
provided the budget ceilings for all conditional grant-
funded programs for the following fiscal year earlier on
during their planning processes. This could be achieved
by starting the conditional grant allocation process
earlier and providing the budget ceiling and breakdown
together with the ceilings for FEGs and revenue-sharing
amounts by around mid-March.
y invest in improving the quality and usability of
information systems (including data on activities as well as
financial aspects and ensuring their interoperability) and
the capacity of planners at all three levels of government
to use them for program design and planning. One way
this could be achieved is by improving interoperability
between various sectoral program systems and investing
in an integrated social registry approach to streamline
beneficiary targeting and monitoring across programs by
different levels of government.
y improve the participation of the population, particularly the
poor and vulnerable, in the planning process at the local
level to encourage responsive and accountable planning.
This is particularly important to ensure that local levels do
not formulate policies that restrict certain individuals or
groups from exercising their fundamental rights as provided
in the Constitution, including for social protection.
Fund Flow and Implementation
� Multiple processes, timelines, and mechanisms for
intergovernmental fund flow create inefficiencies.
Local levels receive funds from multiple sources,
using different modalities. This creates a significant
administrative burden for both the local government
and service providers and affects service delivery. At
the provincial level, the lack of clear guidelines on fund
flow arrangements has led to delivery issues for some
programs.
� The multiplicity of fund flow modalities from the
local levels to service delivery facilities affects
service delivery. Social protection programs vary
in the frequency and timing of services or transfers:
scholarships are provided once a year, at the beginning
of the school year; midday meals are provided
throughout the school year; SSAs are provided every
four months; and so on. Anecdotal evidence suggests
variations in program delivery processes due to delay
in the release of the funds, inefficient planning and
prioritization by the local level, and variations in fund
flow modality between the local level and service
delivery facilities. These often result in service disruptions
and poor beneficiary experience and may also reduce
the effectiveness of the programs themselves. Additional
programming by the province and local levels further
add to the complexity of streamlining and standardizing
service delivery and program implementation.
Recommendations
y Streamline fund flow processes, modalities, and timelines
for different programs to achieve administrative
efficiency in planning and service delivery at the local
level. Federal and provincial governments can align
the timelines of fund flow through their respective
annual appropriation bills; however, the federal MOF
will probably need to play a stronger coordination and
regulatory role between various federal agencies and
provinces to achieve this. Transitioning to a fully digitized
fund transfer and payment ecosystem at the province
and local levels may also be another way to improve
efficiency in fund flow.
y Develop standards and guidelines for intra-governmental
fund flow between the local level and service delivery
facilities to ensure continuity of service provision. This
could be achieved through the sectoral ministries that
were previously responsible for these facilities and have
a longer institutional knowledge of financial needs and
flows preparing these standards, or the standards could
be developed and implemented jointly through the
ministries of finance and federal affairs.
77
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Monitoring and Reporting
� Financial and physical reporting requirements differ
in their timing, procedures, and nomenclatures,
constraining effective monitoring. Reporting
requirements for federally budgeted and conditional
grant-funded programs differ in their timing and
procedures. in addition, budgeting and reporting use
different categories, which prevent the analysis needed
to improve allocation and efficiency, the monitoring
of progress, and the oversight of programs. indeed,
financial reports are presented using economic headings
and functional categories, while expenditures are not
linked to programs or activities.
� At the federal level, low capacity to monitor program
implementation poses challenges. Line ministries at
the federal and provincial levels have broad mandates
to monitor sectoral program implementation. However,
they have limited capacity and policy clarity to fully
exercise this mandate. in addition, information systems
do not provide the data quality or integration required
for rigorous monitoring of physical and financial
progress. in addition, the role of provinces in monitoring
local-level schools and health facilities is considered
by some as going against the spirit of the Constitution.
Capacity constraints, at both the institutional and
systems levels, thus pose a major challenge to build an
effective system for vertical oversight in social protection
delivery in Nepal’s federal structure.
Recommendation
y Develop and implement information systems and
procedures for financial and physical monitoring to
effectively create vertical and horizontal oversight
mechanisms to ensure accountability and inclusiveness.
The systems need to be simple enough to ensure the
quality and timeliness of data entry; interoperable to
allow for analysis of budget, spending, and program
implementation; and comprehensive to allow for a
harmonized reporting on different sources of funds.
y Strengthen the capacity of local levels, including wards,
to plan, implement, and monitor service delivery through
(a) developing and deploying systems and processes and
(b) increasing institutional capacities to improve service
delivery at the local levels. This includes investment
to improve integration, quality, and usability of data
and reporting systems (both on activities and financial
aspects) and capacity of planners at all three levels
of government to use them for program design and
planning. Capacity support to the local levels would also
be essential to ensure participatory planning processes
that include the voices and needs of the poor and
vulnerable population in program design and delivery.
79
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
An
nex
1:
List
of S
ocia
l Pro
tect
ion
Prog
ram
s97
97.
The
prog
ram
s th
at a
re n
ot in
clud
ed in
the
expe
nditu
re e
stim
ates
due
to u
nava
ilabi
lity
of d
ata
or th
ose
outs
ide
of re
d bo
ok a
re m
arke
d w
ith a
n as
teris
k. O
nly
prog
ram
s th
at w
ere
in o
pera
tion
FY20
are
incl
uded
. Pr
ogra
ms
devo
lved
to th
e lo
cal l
evel
are
mar
ked
with
two
aste
risks
.98
. FY
19
bene
fit s
izes
99.
Bene
ficia
ry fi
gure
s ar
e fo
r FY1
9 un
less
sta
ted
othe
rwis
e.
Pro
gra
mD
escr
ipti
on
an
d E
ligib
ility
Cri
teri
aB
enefi
t Am
ou
nt98
Ben
efici
arie
s (F
Y19
)99
FY19
Exp
end
itu
re
(NP
R, t
ho
usa
nd
s)
Soci
al In
sura
nce
Min
istr
y o
f Fin
ance
1Pu
blic
Sec
tor P
ensi
on
Pens
ions
to c
ivil
serv
ants
, arm
y, p
olic
e, a
rmed
pol
ice,
and
teac
hers
who
hav
e co
mp
lete
d m
inim
um y
ears
of s
ervi
ce: 2
0 ye
ars
for c
ivil
serv
ants
, 16
year
s fo
r th
e ar
my
and
pol
ice,
and
20
year
s fo
r the
arm
ed p
olic
e fo
rce.
Up
on d
eath
of t
he b
enefi
ciar
y, th
e sp
ouse
rece
ives
50%
of t
he p
ensi
on fo
r lif
e.
Defi
ned
ben
efit (
year
s of
se
rvic
e ×
last
sal
ary)
/ 50
250,
089
indi
vidu
als
46,2
31,6
00
2Re
tirem
ent g
ratu
ity
and
othe
r ben
efits
Retir
emen
t gra
tuit
y to
thos
e w
ho h
ave
com
ple
ted
at le
ast 5
yea
rs o
f ser
vice
. A
lso
pro
vide
d to
non
-civ
il se
rvan
ts.
Acc
umul
ated
leav
e, m
edic
al fa
cilit
y, s
taff
faci
litie
s, a
nd d
ecea
sed
staff
as-
sist
ance
for a
ll p
ublic
sec
tor e
mp
loye
es.
1,
649,
700
3Em
plo
yees
Pro
vide
nt
Fund
Man
dato
ry re
tirem
ent s
avin
gs s
chem
e fo
r all
publ
ic s
ecto
r em
ploy
ees.
Oth
er fo
rmal
sec
tor w
orke
rs c
an p
artic
ipat
e vo
lunt
arily
. The
fund
col
lect
s 10
% o
f sal
ary
mat
ched
by
the
emp
loye
r.
600,
000
11,7
29,5
00
Min
istr
y o
f Lab
or,
Em
plo
ymen
t an
d S
oci
al S
ecu
rity
4SS
FC
ontr
ibut
ory
sche
mes
for a
ll w
orke
rs to
pro
vide
med
ical
, hea
lth,
and
ma-
tern
ity
ben
efit;
acci
dent
and
dis
abili
ty b
enefi
t; b
enefi
t for
dep
ende
nt fa
mily
m
emb
ers;
and
old
age
ben
efit.
12,3
30
emp
loye
rs,
156,
945
emp
loye
es
(as
of A
pril
20,
20
20)
33,7
00
Min
istr
y o
f Hea
lth
an
d P
op
ula
tio
n
5N
atio
nal H
ealt
h in
sura
nce
Hea
lth
insu
ranc
e w
ith c
over
age
up to
NPR
100
,000
per
hou
seho
ld a
nd p
er
indi
vidu
al fo
r tho
se o
ver 7
0 ye
ars
of a
ge.
The
pre
miu
m is
fully
sub
sidi
zed
for h
ouse
hold
s id
entifi
ed a
s p
oor a
nd in
di-
vidu
als
over
70
year
s of
age
.
Cov
erag
e up
to N
PR
100,
000
for a
n an
nual
p
rem
ium
of N
PR 3
,500
for
a fa
mily
of fi
ve, w
ith N
PR
425
for e
ach
addi
tiona
l m
emb
er
2,71
5,15
4 in
divi
dual
s in
731
,466
ho
useh
olds
(a
s of
Mar
ch
2020
)
6,00
0,00
0
Oth
ers
6C
itize
n's
inve
stm
ent
Trus
t*Ta
x de
ferr
ed in
vest
men
t for
retir
emen
t sav
ings
for p
ublic
and
priv
ate
sect
or
emp
loye
es; p
artic
ipat
ion
is v
olun
tary
.60
0,00
0n.
a.
80
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
100.
In a
dditi
on to
sch
olar
ship
s in
com
mun
ity s
choo
ls, i
nstit
utio
nal (
priv
ate)
sch
ools
are
requ
ired
to o
ffer n
eed-
base
d tu
ition
wai
vers
to 1
0 pe
rcen
t of t
otal
num
ber o
f stu
dent
s, ba
sed
on p
over
ty, e
thni
city
, dis
abili
ty,
dilig
ence
, and
so
on.
101.
Brea
kdow
n by
sch
olar
ship
type
not
ava
ilabl
e; d
evol
ved
to lo
cal l
evel
s ex
cept
for p
ro-p
oor t
arge
ted
scho
lars
hips
.
Pro
gra
mD
escr
ipti
on
an
d E
ligib
ility
Cri
teri
aB
enefi
t Am
ou
nt98
Ben
efici
arie
s (F
Y19
)99
FY19
Exp
end
itu
re
(NP
R, t
ho
usa
nd
s)
Soci
al A
ssis
tan
ce
Min
istr
y o
f Ho
me
Aff
airs
1
Soci
al S
ecur
ity
Allo
wan
ces
2,75
4,13
3 in
divi
dual
s (F
Y20)
41,1
50,0
00
Seni
or c
itize
n al
low
-an
ceA
llow
ance
for a
ll D
alits
and
Kar
nali
resi
dent
s ag
e 60
and
ove
r and
all
othe
rs
age
70 a
nd o
ver
NPR
2,0
00 p
er m
onth
1,22
6,78
6
Sing
le w
omen
and
w
idow
s’ al
low
ance
A
llow
ance
for s
ingl
e (u
nmar
ried
and
divo
rced
) wom
en a
ge 6
0 ye
ars
or o
lder
an
d w
idow
s of
all
ages
NPR
2,0
00 p
er m
onth
705,
564
Full
disa
bili
ty a
llow
-an
ce
Allo
wan
ce fo
r tho
se w
ho c
anno
t go
abou
t dai
ly li
fe, e
ven
with
hel
p fr
om o
th-
ers,
for e
xam
ple
, tho
se c
omp
lete
ly b
lind
and
deaf
or p
aral
yzed
. To
be
elig
ible
, th
ose
with
dis
abili
ty n
eed
to o
bta
in a
red
card
.N
PR 3
,000
per
mon
th41
,844
Part
ial d
isab
ility
al-
low
ance
A
llow
ance
for t
hose
who
can
go
abou
t dai
ly li
fe w
ith h
elp
from
oth
ers.
To
be
elig
ible
, tho
se w
ith d
isab
ility
nee
d to
ob
tain
a b
lue
card
.N
PR 1
,600
per
mon
th73
,784
Enda
nger
ed e
thni
city
al
low
ance
A
llow
ance
for i
ndiv
idua
ls w
ho b
elon
g to
one
of t
he 1
0 et
hnic
ities
con
side
red
enda
nger
edN
PR 3
,000
per
mon
th24
,042
Chi
ld g
rant
N
utrit
ion
gran
t for
all
Dal
it ch
ildre
n un
der fi
ve a
nd a
ll ch
ildre
n un
der fi
ve in
se
lect
ed d
istr
icts
(11
dist
ricts
in 2
020)
NPR
400
per
mon
th68
2,11
3
Med
ical
allo
wan
ceA
llow
ance
to c
over
med
ical
trea
tmen
t exp
ense
s fo
r citi
zens
age
70
year
s an
d ov
erN
PR 1
,000
per
mon
th1,
146,
457
2Re
cons
truc
tion
and
Reha
bili
tatio
n Pr
ogra
m
Cas
h tr
ansf
ers
to v
ictim
s of
con
flict
and
vic
tims
of th
e p
eop
le's
mov
emen
t an
d th
eir f
amili
esVa
ryin
g am
ount
s 78
610
0,00
0
Min
istr
y o
f Ed
uca
tio
n, S
cien
ce a
nd
Tec
hn
olo
gy
3Sc
hola
rshi
ps
unde
r SSD
P100 **
3,15
7,82
3101
2,90
0,75
4
No
nre
sid
enti
al
3.1
Dal
itSc
hola
rshi
p to
all
Dal
it st
uden
ts in
Gra
des
1–10
NPR
400
NPR
500
for G
rade
10
3.2
Girl
sSc
hola
rshi
p to
all
fem
ale
stud
ents
in G
rade
s 1–
8 an
d al
l fem
ale
stud
ents
in
Gra
des
1–10
in K
arna
li
NPR
400
nat
ionw
ide
in K
arna
liN
PR 1
,000
for G
rade
s 1–
5N
PR 1
,500
for G
rade
s 6–
8
81
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Pro
gra
mD
escr
ipti
on
an
d E
ligib
ility
Cri
teri
aB
enefi
t Am
ou
nt98
Ben
efici
arie
s (F
Y19
)99
FY19
Exp
end
itu
re
(NP
R, t
ho
usa
nd
s)
3.3
Dis
abili
tyA
ll di
sab
led
stud
ents
in G
rade
s 1–
10; b
enefi
t am
ount
s va
ry b
ased
on
the
disa
bili
ty c
ateg
ory.
Cat
egor
y A
: NPR
40,
000
Cat
egor
y B:
NPR
5,0
00C
ateg
ory
C: N
PR 3
,000
Cat
egor
y D
: NPR
1,0
00
3.4
Con
flict
aff
ecte
dSc
hola
rshi
p fo
r chi
ldre
n of
con
flict
-aff
ecte
d fa
mili
es. U
p to
thre
e ch
ildre
n un
der 1
8 ye
ars
from
one
fam
ily a
re e
ligib
le.
Prim
ary:
NPR
10,
000
Low
er s
econ
dary
: NPR
12
,000
Seco
ndar
y: N
PR 1
4,00
0H
igh
scho
ol: N
PR 1
6,00
0
2,70
0
3.5
Mar
tyr’s
chi
ldre
nSc
hola
rshi
p fo
r chi
ldre
n of
indi
vidu
als
decl
ared
mar
tyrs
by
the
Gov
ernm
ent
ECD
and
Gra
des
1–5:
NPR
12
,000
Gra
des
6–10
: NPR
18,
000
Hig
h sc
hool
and
ab
ove:
N
PR 2
4,00
0
3.6
Enda
nger
ed a
nd
mar
gina
lized
gro
ups
Scho
lars
hip
for c
hild
ren
of 2
6 en
dang
ered
and
mar
gina
lized
gro
ups,
age
less
th
an 1
8 ye
ars
stud
ying
in G
rade
s 1–
10A
ccor
ding
to g
uide
line
3.7
Ram
Nar
ayan
Mis
hra
Spec
ial S
chol
arsh
ipSc
hola
rshi
ps
awar
ded
to fe
mal
e st
uden
ts in
Gra
des
11 a
nd 1
2 in
Ter
ai-M
ad-
hesh
, bel
ongi
ng to
Dal
it, M
uslim
, mar
gina
lized
, or e
ndan
gere
d co
mm
uniti
esN
ot s
pec
ified
3.8
Dal
it, C
hep
ang,
and
Ra
ute
child
ren
in
Gra
des
11 a
nd 1
2Sc
hola
rshi
p to
poo
r Dal
it, C
hep
ang,
and
Rau
te c
hild
ren
in G
rade
s 11
and
12
Not
sp
ecifi
ed
3.9
Scho
lars
hip
s to
Fre
ed
Kam
alar
iSc
hola
rshi
ps
awar
ded
to th
ose
free
d fr
om b
onde
d la
bor
Gra
des
1–8:
NPR
1,5
00G
rade
s 9–
10: N
PR 1
,800
Gra
des
11–1
2: N
PR 5
,000
Hig
her e
duca
tion:
NPR
10
,000
3.10
Pro-
poo
r tar
gete
d sc
hola
rshi
ps
for
Gra
des
9–12
Scho
lars
hip
s p
rovi
ded
to s
tude
nts
from
hou
seho
lds
iden
tified
as
poo
r by
the
Poor
Hou
seho
ld id
entifi
catio
n Bo
ard,
whe
re im
ple
men
ted,
or p
oor b
ased
on
self-
rep
orte
d Pr
oxy
Mea
ns T
estin
g (P
MT)
.O
ther
elig
ibili
ty c
riter
ia in
clud
e 80
% a
tten
danc
e, n
ot fa
iled
any
grad
e, a
nd
not m
arrie
d b
efor
e th
e le
gal a
ge.
Gra
des
9 an
d 10
: NPR
6,0
00Sc
ienc
e st
uden
ts in
Gra
des
11 a
nd 1
2: N
PR 2
4,00
0O
ther
sub
ject
s in
Gra
des
11 a
nd 1
2: N
PR 1
8,00
0.
34,0
00
Res
iden
tial
3.11
Dis
abili
tySo
me
of th
e C
ateg
ory
A s
chol
arsh
ips
from
the
4 ca
tego
ries
liste
d in
3.3
3.12
Mou
ntai
n Re
side
ntia
l Sc
hola
rshi
p
Scho
lars
hip
s fo
r stu
dent
s fr
om m
argi
naliz
ed c
omm
uniti
es in
Gra
des
6–10
fr
om o
utsi
de th
e ca
tchm
ent a
rea
of re
mot
e m
ount
ain
scho
ols
NPR
40,
000
per
yea
r
3.13
Free
d Ka
mal
ari
Scho
lars
hip
s aw
arde
d to
thos
e fr
eed
from
bon
ded
lab
or s
tudy
ing
in re
side
n-tia
l sch
ools
in G
rade
s 11
and
12.
Rs. 4
0,00
0 p
er y
ear
82
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Pro
gra
mD
escr
ipti
on
an
d E
ligib
ility
Cri
teri
aB
enefi
t Am
ou
nt98
Ben
efici
arie
s (F
Y19
)99
FY19
Exp
end
itu
re
(NP
R, t
ho
usa
nd
s)
3.14
Mod
el R
esid
entia
l Sc
hola
rshi
p
Scho
lars
hip
s fo
r sel
ecte
d st
uden
ts, i
nclu
ding
thos
e st
udyi
ng in
Bud
hani
lkan
-th
a Sc
hool
and
Gan
daki
Boa
rdin
g Sc
hool
, in
Gra
des
5–10
Rs. 4
0,00
0 p
er y
ear
3.15
Feed
er H
oste
ls
Scho
lars
hip
s fo
r sel
ecte
d fe
mal
e st
uden
ts s
tudy
ing
in G
rade
s 9–
12 in
feed
er
host
els
(20
dist
ricts
)Rs
. 40,
000
per
yea
r
4M
idda
y M
eals
**Pr
ovis
ion
of o
ne m
idda
y m
eal i
n sc
hool
s to
imp
rove
nut
ritio
n am
ong
scho
ol-
goin
g ch
ildre
n in
EC
D to
Gra
de 5
in fo
od-in
secu
re d
istr
icts
of N
epal
. Sca
led
up fr
om 3
3 di
stric
ts in
FY
20 to
nat
ionw
ide
in F
Y 21
.
Ave
rage
of N
PR 1
5 p
er
mea
l for
180
sch
ool d
ays
per
yea
r1,
094,
316
2,89
4,92
9
5Fo
od fo
r Edu
catio
n**
(man
aged
by
WFP
)Pr
ovis
ion
of o
ne m
idda
y m
eal i
n sc
hool
s, c
over
ing
all s
tude
nts
in E
CD
to
Gra
de 5
in 1
1 se
lect
ed d
istr
icts
Ave
rage
of N
PR 1
5 p
er
mea
l for
180
sch
ool d
ays
per
yea
r21
8,15
340
,000
6
Hig
her E
duca
tion
Scho
lars
hip
s un
der
Uni
vers
ity
Gra
nt
Com
mis
sion
and
H
ighe
r Edu
catio
n Re
form
Pro
ject
Pove
rty-
targ
eted
sch
olar
ship
s fo
r stu
dent
s in
Gra
des
11 a
nd 1
2 an
d hi
gher
ed
ucat
ion
leve
ls fo
r stu
dent
s id
entifi
ed a
s p
oor b
y PM
T an
d ot
her u
nive
rsit
y sc
hola
rshi
ps
Hig
h sc
hool
: NPR
14,
000
per
yea
rBa
chel
or’s
degr
ee: N
PR
18,0
00 p
er y
ear
9,50
015
7,66
1
7Sa
nita
ry P
ad D
istr
ibu-
tion
Prog
ram
* Pr
ovis
ion
of fr
ee s
anita
ry p
ads
to a
ll fe
mal
e st
uden
ts, i
nitia
ted
in 2
020
unde
r th
e Pr
esid
ent's
Edu
catio
n im
pro
vem
ent P
rogr
am
Min
istr
y o
f Hea
lth
an
d P
op
ula
tio
n
8
Safe
Mot
herh
ood
Prog
ram
**A
ama
Sura
kshy
a Ka
ryak
ram
Cash
ince
ntiv
e to
mot
hers
to d
eliv
er a
t hea
lth fa
cilit
ies,
to im
prov
e th
eir h
ealth
out
-co
mes
and
thos
e of
thei
r bab
ies.
The
prog
ram
cov
ers (
a) c
ash
tran
sfer
to m
othe
rs
for t
rans
port
atio
n co
st, (
b) in
cent
ives
for f
our a
nten
atal
car
e vi
sits
, (c)
reim
burs
e-m
ent t
o fa
cilit
ies f
or in
stitu
tiona
l del
iver
y, (d
) blo
od tr
ansf
usio
n, (e
) em
erge
ncy
refe
rral
s, in
clud
ing
air l
iftin
g, (f
) abo
rtio
n, a
nd (g
) fre
e si
ck n
ewbo
rn c
are.
Cas
h in
cent
ive
to m
othe
rs:
NPR
1,0
00 in
Ter
aiN
PR 2
,000
in th
e hi
llsN
PR 3
,000
in th
e m
ount
ain
425,
000
(FY1
8)1,
080,
000
9U
terin
e p
rola
pse
*Fr
ee s
urge
ry to
trea
t ute
rine
pro
lap
se
10
Poor
Citi
zens
Med
ical
Tr
eatm
ent F
und
(Bip
anna
Nag
arik
A
usha
dhi U
pac
har
Kosh
)
Med
ical
exp
ense
s up
to N
PR 1
00,0
00, f
or p
oor c
itize
ns, a
s re
com
men
ded
by
the
loca
l-lev
el c
omm
ittee
or m
emb
ers
of h
ouse
hold
s id
entifi
ed a
s p
oor b
y th
e Po
or H
ouse
hold
iden
tifica
tion
Boar
d, fo
r tre
atm
ent o
f sp
ecifi
ed d
isea
ses
(hea
rt d
isea
se, k
idne
y di
seas
e, c
ance
r, Pa
rkin
son’
s, A
lzhe
imer
’s, s
pin
al a
nd
head
inju
ry, a
nd s
ickl
e ce
ll an
emia
).Th
e fu
nd re
imb
urse
s th
e lis
ted
hosp
itals
for s
pec
ific
trea
tmen
ts; t
he s
ame
amou
nts
are
dedu
cted
from
the
pat
ient
’s b
ills.
NPR
100
,000
in a
dditi
on, f
or k
idne
y di
seas
e:M
edic
atio
n co
sts
up to
N
PR 1
00,0
00 fo
r pos
t-re
nal
tran
spla
nt c
ases
Free
dia
lysi
s se
rvic
esRe
nal t
rans
pla
ntat
ion
cost
s up
to N
PR 4
00,0
00
23,2
14 (F
Y18)
1,10
2,30
0
11
Free
trea
tmen
t of
hear
t dis
ease
and
ca
ncer
for s
elec
ted
indi
vidu
als*
Free
trea
tmen
t of h
eart
dis
ease
and
can
cer i
nclu
ding
sur
gery
, for
the
poo
r an
d m
argi
naliz
ed, t
hose
und
er a
ge 1
5 an
d th
ose
over
75
year
s, a
nd e
ndan
-ge
red
ethn
iciti
es a
t Gan
gala
l Nat
iona
l Hea
rt C
ente
r, M
anm
ohan
Car
diov
as-
cula
r and
Tra
nsp
lant
atio
n C
ente
r, an
d BP
Mem
oria
l Can
cer H
osp
ital
2,95
8
83
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Pro
gra
mD
escr
ipti
on
an
d E
ligib
ility
Cri
teri
aB
enefi
t Am
ou
nt98
Ben
efici
arie
s (F
Y19
)99
FY19
Exp
end
itu
re
(NP
R, t
ho
usa
nd
s)
12D
isab
ility
Man
age-
men
t and
Lep
rosy
C
ontr
ol
Gra
nt to
Kho
kana
Lep
rosy
Hom
e, w
hich
cov
ers
all e
xpen
ses
of th
e re
side
nts
hous
ed th
ere,
and
tran
spor
t sub
sidy
for p
atie
nts
who
com
ply
with
the
trea
t-m
ent s
ched
ule.
24
,900
13Tu
ber
culo
sis
Con
trol
*Fo
od s
upp
lem
ent f
or T
B p
atie
nts,
plu
s tr
ansp
ort e
xpen
ses
14C
ontr
ol o
f AiD
S &
ST
Ds*
Food
sup
ple
men
t for
AiD
S p
atie
nts,
und
er A
nti-r
etro
vira
l tre
atm
ent
15
Nut
ritio
nal s
up-
ple
men
ts u
nder
in
tegr
ated
Chi
ld
Hea
lth
and
Nut
ritio
n Pr
ogra
m
Fort
ified
sup
er-c
erea
l to
mai
ntai
n M
ater
nal a
nd C
hild
Hea
lth
and
Nut
ritio
n (M
CH
N) p
rogr
am in
5 d
istr
icts
(Kal
ikot
, Jum
la, M
ugu,
Hum
la, a
nd D
olp
a) o
f Ka
rnal
i Pro
vinc
e an
d So
lukh
umb
u di
stric
t40
0,00
0 (F
Y20)
iron
and
Fol
ic A
cid
(iFA
) tab
lets
for p
regn
ant a
nd la
ctat
ing
mot
hers
Min
istr
y o
f Lab
or,
Em
plo
ymen
t an
d S
oci
al S
ecu
rity
16PM
EP**
Min
imum
em
plo
ymen
t gua
rant
ee p
rogr
am a
imin
g to
pro
vide
at l
east
100
da
ys o
f em
plo
ymen
t or a
sub
sist
ence
allo
wan
ce (5
0% o
f tot
al w
age
for
unw
orke
d da
ys) t
o th
e re
gist
ered
une
mp
loye
d
Rem
uner
atio
n at
loca
l m
inim
um w
age
rate
.N
atio
nal m
inim
um w
age:
N
PR 5
17 p
er d
ay
60,0
003,
100,
000
Min
istr
y o
f Wo
men
, Ch
ildre
n a
nd
So
cial
Wel
fare
17So
cial
Wel
fare
Cen
t-er
sTh
is fa
cilit
y co
vers
all
exp
ense
s of
the
resi
dent
s ho
used
at t
he o
ld-a
ge h
ome
at P
ashu
pat
i Brid
dhas
hram
and
4 c
hild
wel
fare
cen
ters
.A
ll ex
pen
ses
of th
e re
si-
dent
s 26
,400
18So
cial
Wel
fare
Pr
ogra
m
Prog
ram
for t
hose
with
dis
abili
ty a
nd s
enio
r citi
zens
, inc
ludi
ng m
odel
old
-ag
e ho
mes
Fund
s to
old
-age
hom
es56
,500
Min
istr
y o
f Lan
d M
anag
emen
t, C
oo
per
ativ
es a
nd
Pov
erty
Alle
viat
ion
19G
arib
San
ga B
isw
esh-
wor
**
The
pro
gram
sup
por
ts in
com
e ge
nera
tion
for t
he p
oore
st, i
nclu
ding
see
d ca
pita
l for
goa
ts, p
igs,
and
trai
ning
.
253,
400
Min
istr
y o
f Urb
an D
evel
op
men
t
20Pe
ople
’s Re
side
nce
Prog
ram
(Jan
ata
Aw
aas
Kary
akra
m)
Sub
sidi
zed
hous
ing
for t
he m
argi
naliz
ed, i
nclu
ding
low
-cos
t hou
sing
for
Dal
it an
d M
uslim
hou
seho
lds
NPR
350
,000
per
hou
sing
un
it (a
ccor
ding
to 2
075
MO
UD
gui
delin
es)
Targ
et: 3
0,00
0 ho
uses
1,25
0,00
0
Min
istr
y o
f In
du
stry
, Co
mm
erce
an
d S
up
plie
s
21Pu
blic
Foo
d D
istr
ibu-
tion
Syst
em
Tran
spor
tatio
n su
bsi
dy o
n es
sent
ial f
oods
(ric
e, le
ntils
, and
so
on) b
y th
e Fo
od C
orp
orat
ion
in 3
0 re
mot
e di
stric
ts
57,6
00
84
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Pro
gra
mD
escr
ipti
on
an
d E
ligib
ility
Cri
teri
aB
enefi
t Am
ou
nt98
Ben
efici
arie
s (F
Y19
)99
FY19
Exp
end
itu
re
(NP
R, t
ho
usa
nd
s)
Lab
or
Mar
ket P
rog
ram
s
Min
istr
y o
f Fin
ance
1YS
EF F
und
The
fund
pro
vide
s co
llate
ral-f
ree
loan
up
to N
PR 5
00,0
00 fo
r sel
f-em
plo
y-m
ent a
ctiv
ities
, whi
ch s
houl
d b
e in
com
mer
cial
agr
icul
ture
, agr
o-b
ased
in
dust
ries,
or t
he s
ervi
ce s
ecto
r, av
aila
ble
to a
ll un
emp
loye
d ag
es b
etw
een
18 a
nd 5
0 ye
ars.
Up
to N
PR 5
00,0
00 c
olla
tera
l-fre
e lo
an; a
loan
of u
p to
NPR
1,
000,
000
can
be o
btai
ned
with
a g
roup
of 2
0 pe
ople
.
38,0
00 ti
ll da
te17
5,20
0
Min
istr
y o
f Ed
uca
tio
n, S
cien
ce a
nd
Tec
hn
olo
gy
2EV
ENT
iiSk
ills
trai
ning
and
acc
ess
to a
pp
rent
ices
hip
s an
d jo
b p
lace
men
t 11
5,00
01,
407,
300
3EN
SSU
RESk
ills
trai
ning
for i
mp
rove
d em
plo
yab
ility
and
incr
ease
d st
anda
rd o
f liv
ing
thro
ugh
app
rent
ices
hip,
sho
rt tr
aini
ng w
ith O
JT, a
nd fu
rthe
r tra
inin
g op
-p
ortu
nitie
s.1,
722,
500
Min
istr
y o
f In
du
stry
, Co
mm
erce
an
d S
up
plie
s
4W
omen
Ent
rep
re-
neur
ship
Dev
elop
-m
ent F
und*
The
fund
, man
aged
by
the
Dep
artm
ent o
f Sm
all a
nd C
otta
ge in
dust
ries,
aim
s to
sup
por
t wom
en e
ntre
pre
neur
s m
eet t
heir
finan
cial
nee
d fo
r ent
erp
rise
grow
th.
Col
late
ral-f
ree
loan
s of
up
to
NPR
500
,000
for s
mal
l an
d m
ediu
m e
nter
pris
es
(SM
Es).
Min
istr
y o
f Wo
men
, Ch
ildre
n a
nd
So
cial
Wel
fare
5Pr
esid
ent’s
Wom
en
Up
liftm
ent P
rogr
am
The
pro
gram
aim
s to
imp
rove
wom
en’s
livel
ihoo
ds a
nd e
mp
ower
men
t. Th
e p
rogr
am p
rovi
des
gran
t sup
por
t for
inco
me-
gene
ratin
g ac
tiviti
es in
agr
icul
-tu
re, t
ouris
m, o
r non
-agr
icul
ture
sec
tor;
awar
enes
s-ra
isin
g ac
tiviti
es a
bou
t ea
rly
mar
riage
, witc
hcra
ft, V
AW, a
nd s
o on
; and
ski
lls tr
aini
ng.
Gra
nt a
mou
nt o
f NPR
61
8,00
0 fo
r a g
roup
of 3
0 w
omen
, for
inco
me
gen-
erat
ion
and
rele
vant
trai
n-in
gs in
agr
icul
ture
, tou
rism
, an
d no
n-ag
ricul
ture
sec
tor
295,
700
85
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Using economic forecasts from the World Bank and
population projections from the United Nations (UN), we
project the likely beneficiary numbers and cost for selected
social assistance programs from 2021 to 2030. Coverage rates
Assumptions Used in ProjectionsAnnex 2:
Macroeconomic assumptions
GDP at current pricesWorld Bank projections for 2020–2025; GDP subsequent to 2025 is estimated to be an average of rates between 2021 and 2025.
Consumer Price index (CPi) World Bank for 2020–2025; CPi subsequent to 2025 is assumed to be equal to CPi from 2025.
Population UN Population estimates, medium varianthttps://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/CSV/
were estimated using various surveys and administrative
data. The coverage of SSAs was estimated by comparing FY18
administrative data to the number of eligible beneficiaries
derived from NLFS iii.
Eligible population Coverage rates Benefit levels
Senior citizens
Those age 70 and over, minus an esti-mated 1% who receive public sector pensions based on NLFS iii
Those age 60 and over among Dalits and Karnali residents, assumed to be 15% of the total population based on administrative data and NLFS iii
Coverage assumed to be 85% (82% based on administrative data and NLFS iii, assumed to have increased by 3% since 2018 based on the fact that beneficiaries in admin-istrative data [7%] have increased at twice the rate of eligible population growth [2.5%] imply-ing an increase in coverage)
NPR 24,000 per year
Those over 70 years also receive NPR 12,000 as medical treat-ment allowance.
Single women
All single women over 60 years and widows of any age are eligible.Single women ages 60–70 and widows below the age of 70 assumed to be 8% of total female popula-tion based on administrative data and NLFS iii, excluding the eligible already captured in the senior citizen category
Coverage assumed to be 90%(88% based on administrative data and NLFS iii, assumed to have increased by 2% since 2018)
NPR 24,000 per year
Child grant in 25 selected districts
Assumed to be 84% of the total popu-lation under 5, based on administra-tive data and NLFS iii
Coverage assumed to be 84% based on admin-istrative data and NLFS iii
NPR 4,800 per year
Endangered ethnicities
2020 administrative data as baseline Coverage assumed to be 100% NPR 36,000 per year
Full disability 2020 administrative data as baseline Coverage assumed to be 51% based on HRVS NPR 36,000 per year
Partial disability Baseline from 2020 administrative data
Coverage assumed to be 51% based on HRVS NPR 19,200 per year
SSAEP
Assumed to be households in the bot-tom 20 percentile based on estimated poverty scores, excluding those receiving senior citizen allowance and single women allowance
Assumed to have 100% coverage Assumed to be NPR 24,000 per year
86
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Eligible population Coverage rates Benefit levels
PMEP
A share of the unemployed, assumed to be 6% of all ages 18–59 based on NLFS iiiUnemployment rate assumed to be constant
Assumed to cover the unemployed in the bot-tom 20th percentile, about 175,000 individuals in 2020Expanded coverage: all unemployed in the bot-tom 40th percentile, about 370 individuals in 2020
NPR 51,700, equivalent to 100 days of work at minimum wage of NPR 517 per day
Safe Mother-hood
Number of live births based on popu-lation projectionsRate of institutional deliveries as-sumed to be 57.6 percent and share of deliveries in public facilities assumed to be 75% based on DHS 2016.
Currently assumed to be 57.6 percent based on 2016 DHS, projected to increase according to the Government’s targets to achieve 90% by 2030
Assumed to be NPR 4,700 per mother based on 2020 total cost of the program divided by number of beneficiaries accord-ing to administrative data
Girls Scholar-ships, Grades 1–8
All girls in Grades 1–8
Baseline from MOEST Flash Report 2018–19 for intake, drop out, and repetition rates; enrol-ment projections based on female population between 6 and 14 years; number of students assumed to grow slightly with marginally im-proving efficiency rates in primary levelsShare of students in public schools assumed to remain at 2019 levels
NPR 400 per year
Dalit Scholar-ships, Grades 1–8
All Dalit students in Grades 1–8
Share of Dalit students assumed to be 16.9% in primary level and 14.4% in upper basic level based on MOEST Flash Report 2018–19; all Dalit children assumed to go to public schoolNumber of students assumed to grow slightly with marginally improving efficiency rates in primary levelsAll other scholarships expenditure, besides these two categories, assumed to grow at 10% each year
Midday meals
All children in ECED and primary level in 44 districts in 2020, assumed to be 40% of all children enrolled in ECED and primaryExpanded nationwide in 2021
ECED and primary enrolment estimates based on MOEST Flash Report 2018–19 for intake, drop out, and repetition ratesNumber of students assumed to grow slightly with marginally improving efficiency rates in primary levels
Assumed to be NPR 15 per meal for 180 school days per year
Methodology for Calculating Poverty ScoresPoverty estimations were made using the PMT method.
This method estimates a household’s socio-economic status
using a composite measure that calculates a weighted score
based on observable household characteristics which are
considered proxies for income or consumption. The poverty
scores used in these simulations are derived from ordinary
least squares (OLS) regressions of (natural log of ) monthly
per capita household consumption on a set of dependent
variables (typically variables that are relatively easier to
collect at greater frequency and for the entire population
than the detailed household survey data used to estimate
income or consumption). The estimates are based on the
AHS 2016 -17, which is nationally representative. The PMT
formula was estimated in three steps: First, a set of variables
that are common between the AHS 2016-17 and the NLFS
2017–2018 and correlated with household consumption were
identified (final set presented in Table (a) below). Second, an
OLS regression was run on the natural log of per capita real
consumption expenditure, allowing for district fixed effects.
Third, the resulting score was applied to infer a poverty
score for each household in the NLFS. Since predictions are
never exact, it is expected that some poor will incorrectly be
assigned scores that identifies them as non-poor, and some
87
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
non-poor will be incorrectly identified as poor. For this model,
key performance indicators are presented in Table (b) for
different income percentiles.
Location � District
Demographics � Household size
House characteristics � Material of house outer wall
� Material of house foundation
� Material of house roof
� Availability of piped water
� Type of fuel availability
� Availability of electricity
� Type of toilet used
� internet availability
� Cable TV availability
Asset ownership � Ownership of house
� Ownership of cell phone
r2Income
PercentileCoverage
(%)Under-Coverage
(%)Leakage
(%)
0.58 10 4 77 47
0.58 15 9 64 39
0.58 20 14 56 36
0.58 25 20 47 34
0.58 30 26 40 30
0.58 40 38 30 26
0.58 50 49 23 21
0.58 60 59 17 16
0.58 70 71 12 13
0.58 80 83 7 10
(a) Variables Used in PMT Model
(b) Key Performance Indicators
88
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Framework and Indicators for Estimating Intergovernmental Transfers102
Annex 3:
Criteria/Indicators Weight (%)
FEG
Minimum Amount (MA) Population25 and 26.26 of FEG for local levels and provinces, respectively
Performance-Based Amount (PBA)
7 sets of indicators each for provinces and local levels related to financial and legislative procedures
5 of FEG-MA
Formula-Based Amount (FBA) 95 of FEG-MA
Human Development Index 10
Social and Economic Inequalities 5
Infrastructure Development Status 10
� Road density 6
� Electricity access 1
� information technology (iT) services access 1
� Drinking water access 1
� Sanitation (toilet availability) 1
Revenue Status 5
Expenditure Need 70
Criteria/Indicators (%) Weight (%) Local Level (%)
Revenue Distribution 70 15 15
Natural Resources Royalty Redistribution 50 25 25
Criteria/Indicators Weight (%)
Population and Demographic profile 60
� Total Population 42
� Dependent Population 18
Area 15
Human Development Index 5
(a) FEG Allocation Framework and Indicators
(b) Proportion of Distribution of Revenue Resources between levels of Government
(c) Revenue Redistribution Framework and Indicators
102 Adapted from NNRFC guidance notes available at www.nnrfc.gov.np.
89
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Criteria/Indicators Weight (%)
Revenue Collection Efforts 3
Infrastructure Development Status 10
� Road density 6
� Electricity access 1
� iT services access 1
� Drinking water access 1
� Sanitation (toilet availability) 1
Special Conditions 2
� Population of Disabled 0.40
� Social and Economic inequalities 1.60
90
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
FY19 per Capita Program Budget by Poverty Incidence
Annex 4:
(a) Per Capita SSA Allocation vs Poverty Rate
(b) Per Capita Safe Motherhood vs Poverty Rate
91
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Source: MOF, MOHA,MOEST, MOHP, World Bank
R² = 0.0254
-300
0
300
600
900
1200
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
(c) Per Capita Scholarship Budget vs Poverty Rate
(d) Per Capita Midday Meal Budget vs Poverty Rate
92
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
(a) Per Capita Scholarship vs FY18 Net Enrolment Rate
(b) Per Capita Midday Meal vs FY18 Net Enrolment Rate
(c) Graduation Rate vs Per Capita Scholarship (FY19)
School Scholarship Program and Midday Meal Program per Capita Budget for FY19 by Education Indicators
Annex 5:
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
(d) Graduation Rate vs Per Capita Midday Meal (FY19)
(e) Graduation Rate vs Poverty Rate
(f) Net Enrolment Rate vs Poverty Rate
Source: MOF, MOEST, World Bank
94
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Safe Motherhood Program per Capita Budget for FY19 by Health Indicators
Annex 6:
(a) Per Capita Safe Motherhood vs Institutional Delivery Rate
(b) Per Capita Safe Motherhood vs Expected Pregnancies
95
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Source: MOF, MOHP, World Bank
(c) Institutional Delivery Rate vs Poverty Headcount
96
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
OLS Estimates of Determinants of per Capita Program Budget by Local Levels
Annex 7:
(a) Per Capita SSA
(b) Per Capita Safe Motherhood
(c) Per Capita Scholarship
(d) Per Capita Midday Meal
(e) Per Capita for All 4 Programs
(e) Change in Gradua-tion Rates FY18–FY19
Metropolitan‡ −800.1*** −57.72 −30.44* −126.4 −801.1** 5.664
Sub-metropolitan −401.6*** −86.94** −12.31* −125.0** −485.7*** 3.968
Urban Municipality −133.6* −13.07*** −3.545* −48.82** −182.8*** 1.522
Hill 270.4*** 9.601** 14.70*** −2.018 267.5*** 6.760***
Mountain 373.7*** 22.27*** 11.77*** 136.1*** 617.0*** 8.056***
Province 1 229.3** −14.62** −6.551** −326.8*** −185.0* −0.901
Province Bagmati 335.4** −11.79* −13.54*** −185.4*** 42.26 7.084***
Province Gandaki 801.7*** −16.78** −2.895 −329.6*** 490.8*** −2.781
Province Lumbini 283.7*** −23.83*** −1.039 −213.2*** −7.597 −0.806
Province Karnali 324.6** −20.77** 19.12*** 69.34 350.4** 4.193*
Province Sudur Pashchim 647.6*** −23.16*** 3.855 −328.1*** 155 4.163*
Surface Area 0.371 0.0447*** −0.00516 0.0444 0.635** −0.00227
Poverty Headcount Ratio † −8.094*** −0.533*** 0.452*** −0.589 −5.753* −0.0465
Hospital†† −26.99***
Primary Health Care Center −4.353
Health Post −3.015***
Community Health Unit −2.979*
Other Health Facilities −2.856
institutional Delivery Rate 0.663***
Total Expected Pregnancies 0.0108*
Number of Basic Level Schools††
−0.164*** 0.389
Target Student Group Popu-lation†††
0.00178*** −0.00278
Net Enrolment Rate for Girls −0.00426 −11.31
Net Enrolment Rate Total 0.411 15.55
Primary Level Graduation Rate (Girls)
0.383 −30.30***
Primary-Level Graduation Rate (Total)
0.461 33.95***
Basic Level Graduation Rate (Girls)
−0.117 26.80***
Basic-Level Graduation Rate (Total)
−0.781 −31.56***
Per Capita Scholarship FY19 −0.0527
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SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Note:*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.‡ Reference groups for geographic variables are Rural Municipality, Terai, and Province 2, respectively.† World Bank staff estimates based on NLSS 2010/11.†† Health and education sector variables from HMiS and EMiS for FY18.††† Target group students include girl students, boy Dalit and Janajati students, and disabled students.
(a) Per Capita SSA
(b) Per Capita Safe Motherhood
(c) Per Capita Scholarship
(d) Per Capita Midday Meal
(e) Per Capita for All 4 Programs
(e) Change in Gradua-tion Rates FY18–FY19
Per Capita Midday Meal FY19
−0.000704
Midday Meal Recipient (Yes/No)
0.745
Student Teacher Ratio −0.00193
_constant 1,224.9*** 44.74*** −5.152 −54.72 1,637.0*** −2.477
Number of Observations 753 753 753 753 723 748
R-squared 0.2686 0.5397 0.5842 0.4249 0.2972 0.0957
98
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Share of Social Protection in Total, Earmarked, and Discretionary Expenditures at Local Levels, FY19
Annex 8:
(a) By Ecological Zone
(b) By Province
in these figures, ‘earmarked’ expenditures include activities
funded through payment authorization and conditional and
complementary grants from federal and provincial levels.
‘Discretionary’ expenditure include those funded from
internal revenue and federal and provincial revenue-sharing
sources, as well as federal and provincial equalization grants.
99
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Source: MOF
(c) By Local Level Type
100
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Budg
etin
g Pr
oces
ses a
nd T
imel
ines
at F
eder
al a
nd
Loca
l Lev
els
An
nex
9:
Fed
eral
Lev
el B
ud
get
ing
Pro
cess
Prov
ince
and
Dis
tric
t Tre
asur
y C
ontr
olle
r Offi
ces
pre
par
e co
nsol
idat
ed fi
scal
rep
ort f
or
Prov
ince
s/ a
ll offi
ces
and
LLs
in
the
dist
ricts
Sub
mit
to F
inan
cial
C
omp
trol
ler G
ener
al
Offi
ce
Min
istr
y of
Fin
ance
(M
OF)
pub
lishe
s co
nsol
idat
ed
finan
cial
rep
ort
Mid
Jan
uary
Nat
iona
l Pla
nnin
g C
omm
issi
on(N
PC)
pre
par
es M
ediu
m
Term
Exp
endi
-tu
re F
ram
ewor
k (M
TEF)
for n
ext
thre
e FY
s b
ased
on
inp
uts
from
lin
e m
inis
trie
s an
d M
OF
Nat
iona
l Res
ourc
e Es
timat
ion
Com
mitt
ee
(cha
ired
by N
PC
and
incl
udin
g M
OF)
pre
par
es
estim
ates
for
reve
nue
and
bud
get c
eilin
gs fo
r al
l thr
ee le
vels
for
next
thre
e ye
ars
bas
ed o
n th
e M
TEF
NPC
(bas
ed o
n es
timat
es o
f re
venu
e an
d ex
pen
ditu
re fo
r ne
xt th
ree
FYs)
se
nd B
udge
ting
Gui
danc
e an
d Fr
amew
ork
on
to li
ne m
inis
trie
s,
com
mis
sion
, se
cret
aria
ts, a
nd
agen
cies
NPC
dis
cuss
ed
the
pro
pos
ed
annu
al p
lan
and
bud
get w
ith th
e ac
coun
ts
resp
onsi
ble
offi
cer o
f eac
h ag
ency
and
su
bm
its a
rep
ort
to th
e M
OF
MO
F di
scus
ses
the
pro
pos
ed
annu
al p
lan
and
bud
get w
ith
acco
unts
re
spos
ible
offi
cer
and/
or
desi
gnat
ed o
ffice
r
MO
F p
rop
oses
th
e an
nual
b
udge
t for
th
e fo
llow
ing
Fisc
al Y
ear
Min
iste
r of
Fin
ance
p
rese
nts
the
prin
cip
les
and
prio
ritie
s of
an
nual
bud
get
to th
e jo
int
sess
ions
of t
he
Parl
iam
ent f
or
delib
erat
ions
Min
iste
r of
Fina
nce
pre
sent
s th
e an
nual
ap
pro
pria
tion
bill
an
d b
udge
t to
the
Parl
iam
ent,
afte
r sub
mitt
ing
Econ
omic
Sur
vey
Rep
ort f
or
curr
ent F
Y
End
Janu
ary
End
May
Mid
Feb
ruar
yM
id M
ay
Acc
ount
s re
spon
sib
le
office
rs o
f eac
h m
inis
try/
age
ncy
pre
par
es a
nnua
l p
lan
and
pro
gram
w
ith b
udge
t, in
clud
ing
for
sub
ordi
nate
offi
ces,
and
su
bm
its to
NPC
an
d M
OF
(bas
ed
on g
uida
nce
and
fram
ewor
k p
rovi
ded
by N
PC)
Loca
l Lev
el B
ud
get
ing
Pro
cess
GoN
, in
cons
ulta
tion
with
N
PC, p
rovi
des
estim
ates
of
tran
sfer
s fo
r fisc
al
equa
lizat
ion
gran
ts a
nd
reve
nue
shar
ing
for
follo
win
g ye
ar to
pro
vinc
e an
d lo
cal l
evel
Prov
ince
pro
vide
s et
imat
es o
f fisc
al
tran
sfer
s fo
r the
fo
llow
ing
FY to
loca
l le
vels
Prov
ince
pro
vide
s es
timat
es o
f fisc
al
tran
sfer
s fo
r the
fo
llow
ing
FY to
lo
cal l
evel
s
Budg
et a
pp
rove
d by
the
exec
utiv
e O
ffice
is p
rese
nted
in
the
loca
l as
sem
bly
Loca
l lev
el B
udge
t an
d Pl
anni
ng
Com
mitt
ee p
rep
are
annu
al b
udge
t in
cons
ulta
tion
with
se
ctor
al
rep
rese
ntat
ives
and
su
bm
its to
the
exec
utiv
e offi
ce
Chi
ef A
dmin
istr
ativ
e O
ffice
r at t
he lo
cal
leve
l pro
vide
s th
e b
udge
t cei
lings
to
resp
ectiv
e di
visi
ons,
se
ctio
ns a
nd w
ard
com
mitt
ees,
who
th
en in
turn
pre
par
e b
udge
t for
pro
gram
, p
roje
cts
and
sub
mit
to th
e lo
cal l
evel
ex
ecut
ive
office
Loca
l lev
el R
esou
rce
Estim
atio
n &
Bud
get
Cei
ling
Com
mitt
ee
pre
par
es e
stim
ates
fo
r tot
al in
com
e fo
r fo
llow
ing
FY a
nd
bud
get c
eilin
g an
d fr
amew
ork
for
bal
ance
d al
loca
tion
of re
sour
ces
Prov
ince
an
d Lo
cal
Leve
ls (L
L)
pro
vide
es
timat
es o
f in
com
e an
d ex
pend
iture
fo
r fol
low
ing
FY to
MO
F
Loca
l Lev
el
Ass
emb
ly
app
rove
s th
e p
rese
nted
ann
ual
bud
get
Mid
Jan
uary
Mid
Mar
chM
id A
pril
3rd
wee
k Ju
neEn
d M
arch
Mid
Jun
eM
id J
uly
101
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
The figures present information on the SSA program, the School Scholarship Program (SSP), the midday meal program (MMM),
and the Safe Motherhood Program (SMP).
Fund Flow of Key Programs before and after Federal Restructuring
Annex 10:
(a) Before Restructuring
MOF
DTCO DDC/Municipality DEO DPHO
MOHPMOFALD MOE
VDC/ Ward Schools
SSA Beneficiaries
SSP/MMM Beneficiaries
SMP Beneficiaries
BC/ Hospital
(a) After Restructuring
MOFALD
DTCO
MOF
Municipality
Ward Schools
SSA Beneficiaries
SSP/MMM Beneficiaries
SMP Beneficiaries
SMP Beneficiaries
BC Hospitals
MOE MOHP
Province
102
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Inst
itut
iona
l Arr
ange
men
t for
the
Del
iver
y of
SP
Prog
ram
s at t
he L
ocal
Lev
el
An
nex
11:
Loca
l lev
el A
ssem
bly
Loca
l lev
el E
xecu
tive
Offi
ce
Cha
irper
son/
May
or
Dep
uty
Cha
irper
son/
May
or
inte
rnal
Aud
it U
nit
Chi
ef A
dmin
istr
ativ
e O
ffice
r
CR/
SSA
Foc
al
Pers
onH
ealt
h C
oord
inat
orEd
ucat
ion
Offi
cer/
Re
sour
ce P
erso
n
Birt
hing
Cen
ters
Scho
ols
Scho
ol/ S
chol
arsh
ip
Man
agem
ent
Com
mitt
ee
Scho
lars
hip
&
Mid
day
Mea
l Be
nefic
iarie
s
Fem
ale
Com
mun
ity
Hea
lth
Volu
ntee
rs
Safe
Mot
herh
ood
ben
efici
arie
s
War
d C
omm
ittee
s/C
hairp
erso
n/Se
cret
ary
Coo
rdin
atin
g in
divi
dual
s at
mun
icip
al le
vel
Serv
ice
Del
iver
y Fa
cilit
ies
Faci
litat
ing
com
mitt
ees/
indi
vidu
als
at fa
cilit
y or
com
mun
ity
leve
l
SSA
Ben
efici
arie
s
War
d O
ffice
s
Lega
l Sec
tion
Educ
atio
n, Y
outh
&
Spor
ts S
ectio
n
Econ
omic
D
evel
opm
ent
Sect
ion
Fina
ncia
l M
anag
emen
t Se
ctio
n
Hea
lth
& S
ocia
l D
evel
opm
ent
Sect
ion
infr
astr
uctu
re
Dev
elop
men
t &
Envi
ronm
ent S
ectio
n
Adm
inis
trat
ion,
Pl
anni
ng &
M
onito
ring
Sect
ion
103
SOCIAL PROTECTION: REVIEW OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
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The World Bank GroupNepal OfficeP.O. Box 798Yak and Yeti Hotel ComplexDurbar Marg, Kathmandu, NepalTel.: 4226792Fax: 4225112Email: [email protected]
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