PR offensive

Lal Babu Pandit's victory

The Minister for General Administration, Lal Babu Pandit, is an excitable man. On slightest prodding, he tends to launch into a rant on nationalism. He likes to talk of how this great country has been made a butt of the joke in the international arena thanks to its civil servants who, rather shamelessly, continue to derive state benefits even after obtaining Permanent Residency (PR) of another country. In fact, over the past two years, Pandit had turned the issue of bringing the "10,000 plus" PR-holding civil servants to book his one-point agenda. He believes a civil servant who is a permanent resident of another country cannot be loyal to Nepal. He is right. In fact, it's a surprise that before Pandit no government minister had given serious thought to this vital issue. A typical case involves a top researcher who is employed in one of the government agencies. To get him to where he is today, the government will have invested at least a couple of million rupees in his education, research work and salary. But lured by better opportunities in the US, the person applies for American DV Visa, and gets lucky. He takes a long sabbatical from his government job and flies to the US—to never return. But even while in the US, he continues to draw salary and benefits from Nepal government.

This case is problematic on a number of fronts. First, it's unethical. You cannot continue to be paid for a job that you have already left. Second, a person on whom the government has invested so much should not be allowed to just leave without doing anything in return for the society. Third, it sets a troubling precedent. Our future administrators and researchers will be tempted to follow on the footsteps of their dishonest predecessors. Fourth, by continuing to hold on to their posts back home, the civil servants residing abroad deprive thousands of unemployed Nepalis who could have filled in for them. It was this travesty of justice that Pandit riled against. And he fought relentlessly, despite death threats, despite being repeatedly threatened with termination of his tenure as a minister. We need more ministers like Pandit whose guiding principles are their convictions and not their loyalty to this or that interest group. Since the civil servants who are holding foreign PR have friends in high places, it could not have been easy for Pandit to make his case. But despite the enormous hurdles on the way, Pandit persisted, and was, ultimately, vindicated in his moral stand.

The new amendment of the Civil Service Act, Pandit's signature achievement, bars civil servants from acquiring foreign residency and citizenship. Starting July 12, all government employees have been given 30 days to inform the government if they have PR of another country. They will be given another 30 days to relinquish their PR. Those who fail to do so will be removed from civil service and prevented from holding any public post in the future. The amendment also makes it illegal for government employees to moonlight in NGOs and INGOs, so that they are totally committed to serving the public. We would like to congratulate Lal Babu Pandit for his triumph against all odds. He is a proof that a committed politician, even today, can do a lot. Now that he has the law that he wants, Pandit must now be given the authority to act against unscrupulous civil servants. In this, he deserves the support of everyone.