Race for Nepal's top bureaucratic post begins as Chief Secy Aryal nears retirement

KATHMANDU, July 3: With incumbent Chief Secretary Suman Raj Aryal set to retire next week, speculation has intensified within the civil service over who will become the country's next top bureaucrat.

Aryal will remain in office until July 9, after which he will retire upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 58. He was appointed chief secretary on November 24, 2025, and will have served in the position for about eight months.

Under Nepal's Civil Service Act, secretaries retire either after completing a five-year tenure in the position or upon reaching the age of 58, whichever comes first.

If the government follows the seniority principle, Kiran Sharma, currently a secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), is the frontrunner to succeed Aryal. However, seniority has not always been strictly observed in previous chief secretary appointments.

If Sharma is not appointed chief secretary, he will retire on July 19 after completing his five-year tenure as secretary.

Two years ago, a complaint was lodged with the National Vigilance Centre alleging that Sharma had obtained permanent residency (PR) status abroad. However, the centre cleared him of the allegation on December 10, 2024, stating that the complaint could not be substantiated.

Two days after Aryal's retirement, Khagendra Prasad Nepal is also scheduled to retire. Although Nepal is senior to Sharma in terms of overall seniority, he was appointed secretary through a specially created government position.

According to the Department of National Personnel Records (Civil)'s seniority list, Loknath Paudel is next in line after Sharma and is due to retire on July 22 followed by Hari Prasad Mainali, a secretary at the OPMCM, on August 4; Govinda Prasad Sharma on August 9; and Dilli Ram Sharma on August 18.

Similarly, Baburam Adhikari, Chief Secretary of Bagmati Province, is set to retire on August 18, while Gopal Prasad Sigdel, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, will retire on September 29. Sigdel ranks ninth in the seniority list.

Between mid-September and mid-October, Home Secretaries Raj Kumar Shrestha and Saroj Kumar Vaidya, Rabi Lal Panth, currently secretary at the National Planning Commission, and Rajendra Prasad Mishra, secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment, are also scheduled to retire.

Krishna Bahadur Raut, secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, will retire between mid-December and mid-January. Meanwhile, Krishna Hari Pushkar, currently assigned to the OPMCM without a specific portfolio, will retire two days before Aryal, effectively ruling him out of the race for chief secretary.

The Civil Service Act provides that the chief secretary may be appointed on the basis of seniority and performance. The Government of Nepal currently has 71 sanctioned secretary-level positions, of which 65 are filled.

Powers of the Chief Secretary

Under the Good Governance (Management and Operation) Act, 2008, the chief secretary serves as the supervising authority over government secretaries and other special-class officials and is empowered to issue directives on administrative matters.

The chief secretary is responsible for coordinating administrative functions among ministries and central government agencies, serving as secretary to the Cabinet, and authenticating Cabinet decisions.

The office is also tasked with ensuring the implementation of Cabinet decisions, monitoring their execution, motivating senior civil servants to improve administrative efficiency, convening meetings of secretaries to enhance government performance, and overseeing the administrative functioning of ministries and central-level offices.

In addition, the chief secretary reviews whether proposals submitted by ministries have fulfilled procedural requirements before forwarding them to the Cabinet and monitors the implementation of bilateral and multilateral treaties and agreements to which Nepal is a party.