KATHMANDU, March 31: The Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) has proposed to adjust 80 percent of civil servants at the local and provincial levels under the new federal setup. The total number of civil servants is 80,000.
Minister for General Administration Keshab Kumar Budhathoki, while briefing the State Affairs Committee at parliament on Friday, informed that the remaining 20 percent of civil servants will be adjusted at the federal level.
According to Budhathoki, the ministry has brought up the deployment of civil servants in its bill on adjusting the civil service to the new federal setup.
“We have submitted to the cabinet for its approval a bill on mobilizing the civil servants as per Article 302 of the constitution," he said. In the bill, the ministry has mentioned that 80 percent of the civil servants will be deployed at local and provincial levels and the remaining 20 percent at the federal level.
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The minister said the bill, which also incorporates remarks from the Public Service Commission, will be registered at parliament if the cabinet approves it. The provisions of the bill are as per discussions held at the ministry and the Public Service Commission, he added.
Article 302 states that the government may arrange for the delivery of services through the adjustment of civil servants at the federal, provincial and local levels in accordance with the law.
“The adjustments will be made on the basis of seniority, the office deployed to, merit, local address and knowledge of local languages,” the minister further informed.
“I request all the political parties to offer their suggestions. The bill was prepared through discussions with civil servants at the ministry and it will acquire more traction after it incorporates the suggestions of the political parties,” he added.
Rekha Sharma, member of the committee and a former MoGA minister , expressed disappointment with civil servants who don't want to shift to the provincial and local levels.
“I hear that some are forcing the government to throw in some incentives for those agreeing to transfer to the provincial and local levels,” she said. “They have to go where the government deploys them. If they think that adjusting to the provincial or local levels from the federal level would amount to a demotion, they are wrong,” he said.
She also said that civil servants should not be offered any incentives while being adjusted to the provincial and local levels.
Other members of the committee also expressed their views on the government's preparations for adjusting the civil servants under the new federal setup. Most of them have urged the government to form a high-level committee to finalize the adjustments.
Following the discussions, the committee has directed the government to form a high-level panel to make recommendations to the government on adjusting the civil servants.
