KATHMANDU, Aug 13: The long-delayed Federal Civil Service Bill is finally moving toward conclusion with the 55/30 provision. The Ministry of Finance has again endorsed the provision, which would require civil servants to retire upon reaching either 55 years of age or 30 years of service.
The 55/30 provision has emerged as the most contentious issue in the civil service bill, which has remained stalled for various reasons for the past eight years. Whether the provision should be implemented has sparked debate not only within the civil service but also among other sectors.
Madan Bhujel, secretary at the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration, said Wednesday that the Finance Ministry had reiterated its approval of the 55/30 provision.
“The draft will now go again to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and then to the Public Service Commission,” Bhujel said.
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After receiving the commission’s approval, the government will table the bill in Parliament. A senior official at the Ministry of Federal Affairs said the issue now appears to be nearing a conclusion after the Finance Ministry reiterated its consent.
If the 55/30 provision takes effect, more than 13,000 civil servants would immediately face mandatory retirement. This would increase the state’s financial burden by more than Rs 25 billion.
The Ministry of Law had held the draft for 72 days before returning it to the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration last Monday. The Finance Ministry then gave its approval again on Wednesday. This was the second time the bill had been sent to the Finance Ministry.
The bill was first sent to the Finance Ministry in the final week of April. At the time, the ministry gave its in-principle approval within a week. Following that approval, the Ministry of Federal Affairs sent the bill to the Law Ministry on May 26 for further consent. The Law Ministry kept the draft for 72 days, saying it was under review.
The proposed mandatory retirement rule could trigger legal challenges if it becomes law. Civil servants recruited under the Civil Service Act 1993 have been working under a legal arrangement that allows them to remain in service until the age of 58. Sending them into mandatory retirement at 55 could therefore lead affected employees to challenge the provision in court.
The government is preparing to push the civil service bill through a fast-track process. The Federal Civil Service Bill was passed by the National Assembly on September 2 last year and sent to the House of Representatives. However, the House was dissolved on September 12, leaving the bill in limbo.
The draft Federal Civil Service Act was first prepared in 2018. Since then, successive attempts have been made to introduce the legislation. The government has repeatedly added new provisions and removed existing ones, but the bill has failed to move forward for various reasons.
In the absence of a federal civil service law, Nepal’s administration continues to operate under the Civil Service Act 1993.
That law was enacted before Nepal adopted federalism and was designed for a centralized system of government. Since the country became federal, the absence of a civil service law covering the federal, provincial and local levels has created difficulties in deploying, managing and transferring government employees across the three tiers of government.
