According to the secretary at the prime minister´s office, Trilochan Uprety, only 52 percent work force will be recruited through open competition in civil service, four security agencies and various development committees under ministries and universities if the bill is finally enacted by parliament. [break]
The PMO will submit the bill to the parliament after seeking Public Service Commission (PSC)´s opinion on the bill.
Nearly half a dozen secretaries had been opposing the Law and Justice Minister Brijesh Kumar Gupta´s bid to get the bill endorsed.
Secretaries were of the view that it will be counter-productive and have an adverse impact on meritocracy in government services if reservation quotas are increased.
However, following strong objection from government secretaries, some provisions have been removed from the bill. Earlier, Minister Gupta had been pressing to keep the door open for quota candidates who wish to compete under quota in all subsequent layers of government service.
"The candidates who want to compete for government service under reservation quotas will have that chance only at the time of entry and he/she has to attend exams to be taken under open competition for promotion," Secretary Uprety cited the provisions incorporated in the bill.
Secretaries had opposed saying that the door shouldn´t be open for reservation quota at all layers of government posts as this provision is absolutely unfeasible.
In previous meetings, PMO secretaries Leela Mani Paudel, Som Lal Subedi and Uprety, General Administration Secretary Pratap Pathak had opposed the bill saying that the proposed bill only aims at ensuring the presence of elites from the ethnic groups in the government services but fails to address the aspirations of the genuinely deprived communities.
Secretaries and Minister Gupta however agreed not to appoint candidates in various development committees under reservation quota. "Such development committees were formed targeting particular ethnic groups and candidates from other groups cannot be recruited to such committees, Secretary Uprety said.
Despite strong objection from secretaries, provision that says the vacant posts allocated for reservations will remain vacant until such time as the target candidates keep appearing in the exams and eventually pass have been incorporated in the bill.
"This provision will have severe ramifications in the long run," Secretary Paudyal said.
Of the total 48 percent of seats proposed for reservation quota, 33 percent has been proposed exclusively for women candidates.
And, of the total 48 percent, considering that as 100 percent, 28 percent of seats are proposed for Madhesi candidates, 9 percent for dalits, 5 percent for other marginalized groups, and 4 percent for differently-abled, among others.
Related story
Call to prioritize gender inclusion in budget planning
