Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire and secretary at the ministry of general administration Pratap Kumar Pathak, among other officials, at the parliament´s State Affairs Committee (SAC) meeting on Friday said they were unable to stop transfers made in violation of the civil service act.[break]
Lawmakers fiercely criticized the bureaucrats for failing to reject unlawful instructions from the ministers and other higher ups.
According to officials at the ministry of general administration, around 200 officials have already been transferred after the formation of the present government three months ago. Officials said, the ministry of physical planning and works has sought transfer of 50 officials, the education ministry for 41, the agriculture ministry for 30, forest ministry for 25 and the ministry of land reform for 10 but the ministry of general administration has been resisting saying the demand is unlawful.
“My statement is an expression of frustration of the failure to stop unlawful transfers and other irregularities despite consistent follow ups,” Ghimire said at the meeting attended by Minister for General Administration Ram Kumar Yadav, State Minister at the ministry Sunita Kumari Mahato, among others.
Secretary at the ministry of general administration Pathak claimed that the ministry was resisting such transfers strongly despite pressure from various ministries.
“We shelved the transfer of director general of the department of water supply and sanitation but later had to give in after the minister (Tripathi) boycotted the cabinet meeting seriously objecting to our resistance,” Pathak said at the meeting. He informed that the Ministry of General Administration has been shelving applications for hundreds of other unlawful transfers sought by the ministry of physical planning, the ministry of forests and the ministry of education.
“After we shelved the transfer, a minister has submitted a 12-point objection letter to the prime minister,” said Pathak.
Each ministry can transfer officials from one department to another within the ministry but they need approval of the ministry of general administration for inter-ministry transfer.
According to Pathak, Minister Tripathi insisted on replacing the project director at the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) merely within six months of appointment even as the government and the donor agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed not to replace the project director for three years.
Health sector hardest hit
Secretary at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Bhagwati Prasad Kafle, who is also the acting chief of the anti-graft body, said at the SAC meeting that the scenario in the health sector was the worst.
He said unlawful and untimely transfers have become a cancerous problem in the administration but the health sector is the hardest hit. “The problem in the health sector is so serious that we can´t even trace the officials´ existence,” said Kafle.
Kafle informed lawmakers that the ministry of forest had transferred a director general at the ministry in an unlawful manner. “The director general was transferred to a regional office and a junior was promoted to the post. It was very humiliating,” Kafle explained at the meeting. He urged the SAC to study rampant irregularities in the health sector as well.
Minister Yadav committed not to approve any demand for transfers in violation of the existing laws. After listening to the minister, lawmakers and bureaucrats, the SAC instructed the ministry of general administration to furnish the details of transfers to the parliamentary committee within three days.
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