After the implementation of the federal governance system in Nepal, provincial governments were expected to provide fast, efficient, and effective services to citizens. In practice, however, provincial structures have become platforms for political power-sharing rather than avenues for responsive service delivery. The essence of federalism is being undermined by cumbersome administrative machinery and unproductive, expensive structures.In Bagmati Province, the number of ministries was increased from 7 to 14 without any objective basis or workload. The disarray in administrative structure and employee management is clearly evident in Bagmati. This has unnaturally increased recurrent expenditure while shrinking capital, or development, budgets.Despite studies...