KATHMANDU, Oct 6: Prospective candidates for the post of chief secretary have lobbying to lead the bureaucracy as the tenure of the present chief secretary, Rajendra Kishor Kshetry, ends on October 25.
Five secretaries, who are on the top list, are eying for the post of bureaucracy chief.
Shanta Bahadur Shrestha, Shanta Raj Subedi, Shankar Adhikari, Naindra Prasad Upadhyay and Lok Darshan Regmi rank from one to five respectively in the seniority list of the government secretaries, according to government sources.
Education Secretary Shrestha and Finance Secretary Subedi are retiring on October 19 upon completion of their five-year term as secretary although they have not crossed the age bar of 58 for getting retirement. Shrestha is appreciated for being competent and having a quick decision-making capacity and working for the interest of people.
A source at the Office of the Prime Minister revealed that secretary Regmi has strongly lobbied to be appointed as the chief secretary by the cabinet despite being the junior-most among the top five secretaries.
Regmi, who is crafty in influencing power centers, is not much praised among the circle of civil servants, said the source. “Regmi has been recommended for the post by Dr Arju Deuba, wife of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba,” said sources requesting anonymity.
There are rumors that there is a trend of candidates for the post of chief secretary presenting 'gifts' to power centers to achieve the top post.
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