A delegation of 16 senior officers of Government of Nepal left for a two-week visit to India on May 25, 2008 to study various issues and aspects related with federalism. The visit is being organised by the Government of India through the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi – the premier institute of India engaged in the training of civil servants.

The visit has been arranged in response to a request from the Government of Nepal in the context of adoption of federal democracy for Nepal's future political structure.

The delegation, being led by Shri Ram Hari Aryal, Secretary, Ministry of General Administration, comprises three Secretaries, ten Joint Secretaries and three Under Secretaries from various Ministries, Departments and other organs of Government of Nepal, including Home Affairs; Finance; Local Development; Information and Communication; Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; General Administration; Office of Prime Minister and Councils of Minister; Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority; and Public Service Commission.

The delegation will visit New Delhi and the states of Maharashtra and Goa to get a close view of India's federal system in work along its various dimensions – ranging from legislative to judicial, administrative, financial and developmental. The programme includes a mix of lecture sessions by eminent experts and field visits to important government organs and institutions, both at the central and state levels, with focus on issues like separation of power between the legislature, executive and judiciary; functioning of Parliament and state legislatures, Supreme Court and High Courts and the Central and the State Governments. Besides, interaction will be arranged with some important institutions founded on the principles of federalism, such as Election Commission, Finance Commission, Planning Commission and Inter-State Council. Visit has also been arranged to the Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie, which provides the foundation and mid-career training for civil servants of India. The delegation will also meet senior government leaders, parliamentarians and officials in New Delhi, Mumbai and Goa, including the Chief Minister of Delhi.

The visit of these senior officials is part of the on-going initiative for exposure visits to India by the officials of the Government of Nepal under the India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme. In 2007-08, Government of India organised management development programmes of two weeks each for six groups of Local Development Officers covering all 75 districts of Nepal. A group of 10 Finance Officers of Government of Nepal was also trained in India in April 2007. Later, in December 2007, a high-level delegation from the Public Service Commission of Nepal visited India to study the reservation policy in the recruitment for civil services in India in the context of Nepal’s new legislation for making the civil services more inclusive. All these programmes have elicited very positive feedback from the participants and encouraged the Government of India to organise more such study visits by Nepal’s civil servants. The role and expertise of IIPA has been an important contributor in the success of these programmes.

Government of India will be providing more opportunities for study and exposure visits to the Nepali civil servants in other focus areas, which it feels will further strengthen awareness of each others’ systems and reinforce the friendly, professional and close relations that characterise the interaction between the civil servants of the two countries.