The ministry said it effected the transfers under the Civil Service Act which says that inter-ministry transfers can only take place in the period between mid-January to mid-February.[break]
"There have been cases of violation of the Civil Service Act while making the transfers.”
- Ganesh Basyal, Nepal Government Employees’ Organization
- Ganesh Basyal, Nepal Government Employees’ Organization
“Though there are controversies, we transferred the government employees in a fair and transparent manner this time,” said Balananda Poudel, secretary at the ministry, at a press conference organized at the ministry.
However, major trade unions said the transfers were highly politicized and not transparent.
“There have been cases of violation of the Civil Service Act while making the transfers,” said Ganesh Basyal, president of Nepal Government Employees’ Organization, one of the major unions of government employees.
He said that the ministry transferred central leaders of his trade union, namely Mohan Kumar Ghimire and Ajim Mansru, to offices based outside the places where they were serving. The Act says that trade unions leaders cannot be transferred away from locations where they are serving at the time. But there are five such cases, according to Basyal.
However, Secretary Poudel said, “We have offered to address such cases if any”.
Major trade unions said that civil servants close to the Maoists have been transferred to “attractive” places like the Ministry of Labor and Transportation and custom offices. The term "attractive" is very commonly used in the bureaucracy to denote offices where chances of graft are very high.
“How can we know that a particular civil servant is affiliated to this or that party?” Poudel asked.
When asked why major trade unions other than the one close to the Maoists have criticized the transfers, the secretary added, “This is the first time we have transferred a large number of civil servants at one go under the new law that specifically says that transfers to be effected by the ministry should take place only between mid-January to mid-February.”
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