KATHMANDU, Dec 13: Amid an outcry from the Public Service Commision (PSC), a constitutional body, the State Affairs Committee (SAC) of parliament has decided to allow the government to transfer PSC staff without prior PSC consent. 

Existing laws make it mandatory for the government to take prior consent from the commission while transferring any of its staff to the government’s own bureaucracy. But earlier this year the government registered a bill to amend the Public Service Commission Act and do away with the prior consent provision. 

Secretary at the PSC, Ananda Raj Dhakal, while taking part in deliberations on the bill at the SAC on Thursday insisted that transfer of staff working at the confidential sections of the commission may affect the confidentiality of its examinations and various other functions. 

Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Bijaya Subba and main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Sanjaya Gautam also stressed the need to continue with the existing practice on staff transfers involving the PSC. “A provision related to prior consent of the PSC during transfer of its staff seems to be missing from the bill although it was included in the first draft. I wonder whether the provision just went missing or someone deliberately dropped it,” Subba said at the meeting.

However, other NCP lawmakers including Rekha Sharma, Nawaraj Silwal and Maheshwar Raj Gahatraj, said the government should have the power to transfer civil servants when needed and without the consent of the PSC. 

The PSC has already written to the Prime Minister’s Office, setting out its objections. The PMO also functions as the line ministry for constitutional bodies. 

Secretary at the PMO Mahendra Guragain and Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dhan Raj Gyawali also stated that prior consent from the PSC would help maintaining the confidentiality of the commission. 

PSC Secretary Dhakal has urged the committee not to take a final decision until an interaction between PSC office bearers and SAC members scheduled for Friday. 

Although lawmakers on the parliamentary committee were divided, SAC Chairperson Shashi Shrestha has announced the endorsement of the new provision through the committee. “The government should be able to trust its employees and should have the power to deploy any staff as per its needs,” said Shrestha.

 
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