Ghimire, who retired on Sunday. On July 29, the government had appointed Paudel as acting chief secretary after much haggling between the coalition partners, UCPN (Maoist) and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) over picking new head of the bureaucracy. [break]
That time, Maoists wanted Paudyal, who was then a secretary at the prime minister´s office, to be promoted for the top job, while UDMF had preferred Umakanta Jha, secretary at the industry ministry, for the post.
Secretaries Shankar Prasad Koirala, Abnindra Kumar Shrestha, Baman Prasad Neupane, Shyam Mainali, Bhagawati Kumar Kafle, Tana Gautam, Sushil Jung Rana, Leela Mani Paudyal, Brinda Hada, Balanand Poudel, Umakant Jha and Tilochan Uprety were among those in contention for the top bureaucratic post.
Following Paudyal´s appointment, five senior-most secretaries, Koirala, Rana, Mainali, Uprety and Shrestha tendered their resignation expressing dissatisfaction over the government decision.
They had quit the post claiming that Paudyal was elevated to the top civil service post in contravention of the Civil Service Act which states that secretaries shall be promoted on the basis of seniority and performance record of seniormost secretaries.
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