The process of making NHRC temporary workers permanent should be stopped immediately. Period. It violates other citizens’ rights to free competition. Some NHRC staff have pushed for recruitment by amending NHRC Regulations unilaterally despite objection from the Public Service Commission (PSC), the sole body responsible for making such appointments. Both the PSC and the Prime Minister’s Office – which have to be part of any recruitment process – have abstained themselves from the process saying it does not meet existing constitutional and legal parameters. One of the NHRC members, Leela Pathak, had questioned the process and written a note of dissent. Pathak was initially designated as the chairperson of the recruitment committee but was removed after she maintained that the process falls under the jurisdiction of the PSC. Ram Nagina Singh, the person who had been asked to investigate appointments-related irregularities a few years ago, is now the head of the recruitment committee. The investigative committee he headed previously has not yet prepared the report.
The Regulations say that NHRC can hire staff on contract basis but that should be done by obtaining consent from its members. They were given contracts by the then Acting Secretary Dhruba Nepal when NHRC was without members.
In addition to halting the recruitment process, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority should also investigate as to how these temporary workers were recruited on contract basis at NHRC as the process was marred by irregularities. The anti-corruption body had already questioned the process. Now, it should begin a fresh investigation to book those officials – past and present – who hired these staffers on contract basis without meeting due legal course. Seriously, this is a rot that needs to be addressed immediately.
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