A joint meeting of the Bills Committee and Administrative Committee of the cabinet, which was chaired by Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, decided to amend the Civil Service Act with the cosent of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and end the much-criticized provisions on special promotions.[break]
The government has, however, decided to adjust the nearly 18,000 civil servants who were given special promotions under Article 24 (D) of the Civil Service Act five years ago.
The government formed after Janaandolan II in April, 2006 had given automatic promotion to some 18,000 civil servants of non-gazetted and third-class gazetted levels following mounting pressure from them. However, the government has not assigned them appropriate responsibilities so far.
"The cabinet committees have formally proposed to the PSC to scrap the controversial provisions relating to special promotions," said Secretary Leela Mani Paudel, adding, "The cabinet will finally approve the bill once the PSC says it has no objection in the matter." Following endorsement by the cabinet, the bill will go to parliament. The amended bill will come into effect once parliament enacts it.
Friday´s decision was reached after dozens of meetings. Meetings held in the past failed to decide on scrapping the provisions, owing to differences between ministers.
At Friday´s meeting, some ministers had pressed for postponement of the agenda, stating that the issue was serious. Those ministers finally agreed to scrapping the provisions after senior government officials persuaded them not to postpone the meeting.
Representatives of civil servants´ unions have welcomed Friday´s decision to forward the proposal to the PSC for the latter´s nod.
"We won´t criticize the government´s decision to scrap the provisions related to special promotions if it moves ahead with the alternatives," said Mohan Ghimire, general secretary of Nepal Government Employees´ Organization, adding, "We welcome the decision."
With the amendment of the Civil Service Act for the fourth time, the government has also decided to prioritize the seniority system in civil service promotions at various levels. According to the fresh provisions, 20 percent of secretary-level vacancies must be filled on the basis of seniority.
Similarly, the government has decided through the amended Act to promote government employees through certain percentage ratios. The percentage ratios vary from position to position.
While promoting a joint secretary to secretary, 35 percent of total marks will be added based on his/her seniority.
"The new provisions on promotions will discourage the trend of promoting government employees through favoritism and nepotism," said a high ranking official preferring anonymity.
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