Altogether 18 candidates from the secretariat have applied for the post. Only four -- Hridaya Ram Maharjan, Bansi Raj Poudel, Ghanindra Raj Chimauriya and Sudarshan Kuinkel -- of the applicants are graduates. Other nongraduate 14 officers were earlier promoted to the post from nayab subba (non-gazetted first class) position.
At a meeting on Thursday, members of a panel formed to look after the matter agreed in principle to accept their applications. Sources said, the panel´s meeting scheduled on Monday could take a formal decision to this effect.
The secretariat called applications for promotion from those officers "who have completed the minimum service duration by mid July 2009 on the basis work". The parliament secretariat act has made it mandatory that any employee aspiring to apply for any gazetted post must have served for five years in the immediate junior position.
The Parliament Secretariat is an autonomous body with its Act and Regulations.
The Civil Service Act, however, provides that any candidate applying for the post of under secretary must have a master´s degree.
A Secretariat official requesting anonymity, said, "In fact, employees working with the Parliament Secretariat, where laws are formulated, should be more efficient than the employees in the Civil Service. Activities like these could send message in the public that Parliament Secretariat staff are less competent."
Due to ambiguity in the Secretariat´s Act, the panel has failed to take any decision over the matter although the deadline for applying for the vacancies expired on October 23.
"The latest developments indicate that nongraduate persons are being promoted to the post of under secretary at the Secretariat that is entrusted with formulating laws of the land," the official said. "These nongraduates could even become secretary some day."
Public Service Commission (PSC) member Krishna Pokharel heads the promotion committee. Acting General Secretary of the Secretariat Manohar Prasad Bhattarai, Secretary of the Ministry of Law and Justice Pramod Kumar Karki and expert nominated by PSC Ramananda Mishra are members of the committee. The secretary of the secretariat Krishna Prasad Pandey is member-secretary.
Earlier, in similar case, the panel members had rejected applications from nongraduate officers who applied for the post of under secretary.
An officer Rajan Ghimire, who had applied for promotion last time, did not apply this time.
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