The civil administration could not win the hearts of people even 70 years after overthrowing the Rana regime
KATHMANDU, Feb 20: Before the establishment of democracy 72 years ago in 2007 BS, the country was run by about half a dozen government offices. Along with the political change in 2007 BS, there was also a major change in the administration system. Now there are 321 government offices in the center. Besides, there are about 300 offices under the state government and at least 753 offices under the local governments.
During the Rana regime there were only a handful of government offices namely Tejarath Adda, Kaushitosa Khana, Mal Adda, Bir Dhara, and Munshi Khana. The then Rana prime minister used to run the country from these offices. At that time, there were neither ministries nor commissions. Whatever the Rana prime minister wanted, used to happen. The Tejarath Adda was established in 1880, which provided loans to people easily. The Kaushitosa Khana, established during the Rana regime, was responsible for keeping civil, government and army records. This work is currently being done by the Department of National Personnel Records (Kitab Khana). Former Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa established the Jaisi Kotha, which was later renamed as Munshi Khana during the Rana period. It dealt with foreign affairs. Established in 1896, Mal Adda was responsible for land administration. Bir Dhara Adda, established in 1895, managed drinking water. During the Rana period, there was a separate office to look after security and the military.
Over a dozen govt offices in rented property
After the political change in 2007 BS, a commission on administrative reform was formed for the first time under the chairmanship of Indian citizen NM Bose in 2008 BS to prepare a report with suggestions on how to make Nepal's administration system. The commission also suggested the names of ministries and offices and reports to the government. Since then, dozens of commissions, working groups and committees have been formed in the name of administrative reform.
According to Govinda Kusum, a former member of the administrative court and former home secretary , the centralized administration has been decentralized in the period of 70 years, and new technologies have been introduced in the administration.
“At that time, it was the Rana period. Anyone who spoke against the administration faced a threat to his/her life. That's why people used to be afraid to speak against the administration and employees,” said Kusum, adding, “But now, democracy is there. Citizens have been able to speak openly about what they like about the administration and staff. But the attitude of the common people towards the administration is the same as it was before. The opinion has not changed.”
The government administration has been trying to become scientific, practical and accountable to the public since 2008 BS. Commissions, working groups and committees formed in the name of administrative reform have also submitted recommendations but those reports have not been implemented. Most of the reports are gathering dust in the drawers. According to the Ministry of General Administration, more than two dozen commissions, committees and task forces have been formed during the 70 years. Some commissions and committees were chaired by the prime minister. There are instances where the prime minister has ignored the report of the commission formed under his own chairmanship.
Recently, a working group has been formed under the coordination of Laxman Aryal, secretary of the Prime Minister's Office to study the posts of high-level employees including secretaries. According to the Ministry of General Administration, from 2070 to 2076 BS, a high-level administrative reform implementation monitoring committee and a federal administrative restructuring committee were formed under the chairmanship of Kashi Raj Dahal. The committee has recommended keeping only 30,000 to 35,000 employees in the federal government and to have only 15 ministries. In the year 2066 BS, the Council of Ministers decided to form a permanent administrative reform committee under the coordination of the then Minister for General Administration. But the committee never got full shape.
Looking at the administration history of Nepal, after the political change in 2007 BS, a powerful administrative reform commission was formed under the coordination of the then Prime Minister Tanka Prasad Acharya. During the Panchayat era, a commission and a committee were formed in 2025 BS and 2032 BS respectively. After the end of the Panchayat system, an Administrative Reform Commission was formed under the chairmanship of the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in the year 2048.
In the year 2074 BS, the then prime minister KP Sharma Oli formed the Public Expenditure Review Commission under the coordination of Dilliraj Khanal. The commission submitted a report to the Oli government. But the Oli government did not implement the recommendation of the commission. The Oli government made political appointments in the offices and institutes which the commission had recommended to be scrapped. The Khanal Commission had recommended the government to keep up to 1,187 employees in ministries and 1,440 employees in departments. Similarly, the commission also suggested reducing the number of divisions under the ministries.
Despite extensive changes in the administrative system during the 70 years, the government employees have not been able to win the trust of the public. An expert in the administration says, “Now it is necessary to make the administration of Nepal service-oriented and people-friendly.”
