Government Secretaries Decide on 22-Point Administrative Reforms

Kathmandu. The meeting of the secretaries of the Government of Nepal has made various 22-point decisions to streamline the country's administrative system and make public service delivery citizen-friendly.

The meeting of secretaries, held for the first time after Govinda Bahadur Karki was promoted to Chief Secretary, decided on various issues from reviewing public holidays to making offices with high footfall like land revenue and survey offices free from middlemen.

The meeting decided to implement a 'one-door service' system to make the service delivery of offices with high public contact such as land revenue, survey, transport, labor, district administration, and district police offices easy, simple, and free from middlemen.

The statement issued by Chief Secretary Karki after the meeting mentioned that the meeting also decided to assign separate staff to assist service recipients who are unable to apply online or in writing.

The meeting also decided that the National Vigilance Center will conduct close monitoring to prevent irregularities and delays in government service delivery and recommend legal action against officials or employees found guilty.

The meeting decided to operate an integrated citizen grievance and suggestion management system based on websites and mobile apps in all ministries and service provider agencies and to address and resolve 100% of the grievances received within a specified time.

It was also decided to expedite the process of transferring land revenue and survey-related services to be operated through the local level. The meeting decided to internally match employees according to the approved staffing based on the new organization and management survey, and to not let employees become idle by assigning excess employees to federal offices, provinces, and local levels when the staffing is reduced.

The statement mentioned that no office will create new staffing, fill temporary positions, or request permanent recruitment from the Public Service Commission without the approval of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers' Office in the current fiscal year.

Public holidays to be reviewed by forming a task force

The meeting expects that the 'institutional memory transfer' will be mandatory for the continuity of work when employees are transferred, promoted, or retire in government offices. This is expected to make it easier for new employees to understand their work and perform their duties.

The meeting decided to give high priority to completing the necessary tasks within the stipulated time to bring Nepal out of the 'grey-list' regarding anti-money laundering, to intensify the process of clearing arrears by maintaining financial discipline and frugality in all three tiers of government bodies, and to effectively implement the recently approved 'National Integrity Policy, 2083' to make government employees disciplined and ethical.

The meeting decided to keep all government agencies on high alert for the effective management of monsoon-induced disasters or epidemics and to coordinate at various levels to provide immediate relief and technical assistance to the affected areas, and to expedite the implementation of the approved integrated package for the families of martyrs and the injured in the people's movement.