KATHMANDU, June 6: Senior government secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar has landed in hot soup for allegedly sending a message to Prime Minister Balendra Shah, seeking his favor for an ambassadorial berth.
Puskar, who serves as a secretary of the Government of Nepal, was questioned by police for seven hours on Thursday over the content of the message. He was released later the same day, but the episode quickly became a matter of public discussion within bureaucratic and political circles.
National Swimming competition in private swimming pool
A day after his release, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers decided to transfer him from the Vice President’s Office and place him in a reserve pool. Officials say that employees kept in reserve are not assigned any active duties.
A senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that no replacement has yet been appointed in his previous post. “We will send a secretary to the Vice President’s Office on Monday. For now, he has been transferred to the Prime Minister’s Office and kept in reserve,” the official said.
The timing of the development has drawn attention within the bureaucracy. Puskar is due to complete his five-year tenure as secretary on July 8, after which he will retire under mandatory provisions. Just three days later, Chief Secretary Suman Raj Aryal is also set to retire, a sequence that effectively rules out Puskar from consideration for the top bureaucratic post of Chief Secretary.
Officials confirmed that the controversy stemmed from the message Puskar sent to the prime minister seeking clarification on whether he could apply for an ambassadorial position. That inquiry reportedly led to his brief detention and police interrogation.
