Civil Service Bill Held Up at Law Ministry
Kathmandu. The 'Bill to Regulate the Formation, Operation, and Service Conditions of Federal Civil Service' that the government led by Balendra Shah is preparing to introduce has been stalled at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
The Ministry of Law has not yet returned the bill sent by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration on May 12.
The Ministry of General Administration had made the draft of the bill public on April 11 and sought suggestions within 7 days. Incorporating the suggestions received, the ministry had sent it to the Ministry of Finance for approval.
The Ministry of Finance approved it and sent the draft back to the Ministry of General Administration on May 6. Subsequently, incorporating the suggestions of the Ministry of Finance, it was sent to the Ministry of Law for approval on May 12, but the draft has not been returned yet.
Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Parashwor Dhungana, informed that the bill has not been returned. 'Yes, we have not returned the civil service bill. It is a large bill, it may take up to 3 months to return it,' Secretary Dhungana told Ratopati. 'We work on a priority basis. There were other bills with higher priority. A few clauses are being studied daily. We will send it after completion.'
Secretary Dhungana informed that there are currently 20 ordinances in the pipeline at the ministry. According to him, some delay has occurred because ordinances and their replacement bills had to be prioritized over the civil service bill.
According to sources close to the two ministries, the Ministry of Law has not been able to make a decision and send it due to some provisions included in the bill. Sources say that an agreement has not been reached on the provision to compulsorily retire employees who have completed 30 years of service or reached the age of 55. Law ministry sources indicated that this provision requires a political decision rather than a legal one, and discussions between the Minister of General Administration and the Minister of Law are necessary.
It is said that Law Minister Gautam is waiting for a signal from Prime Minister Balendra Shah, which is causing the delay. The main controversial issues of the bill are the provision to compulsorily retire employees who have completed 30 years of service or reached 55 years of age, and not to provide pension benefits for more than 30 years of service. It has been opposed that if this provision becomes law, more than 10,000 experienced employees will be forced to leave service at once, which will put institutional memory at risk. However, officially, since the government has already abolished the civil service organizations, no one can oppose it.
The government, which claims good governance and administrative reform as its main agenda, is facing difficulties as the fundamental law for reform, the civil service bill, has been held up at the Ministry of Law for a long time.
When attempts were made to get a reaction on why the bill was held up at the Ministry of Law for a long time, officials from the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration were unwilling to respond. They deflected by saying to ask the Ministry of Law about it.
This specific news has been automatically translated by AI. As a result, there may be some inaccuracies or language errors.
