Secretaries against provision of new Civil Service Bill

Secretaries of the government have raised objection over the provision of 'automatic promotion' in the proposed new Civil Service Bill, according to Kantipur daily.

They have warned that such provision could trigger instability in bureaucracy. Recording their views at the House of Representatives State Affairs Committee (SAC), the senior government officials have urged to give priority to "merit." In the proposed bill, there are provisions that allow those employees who have been working for 16 and 20 years for automatic promotion.

"The provision of automatic promotion is against the merit system," said Tika Dutta Niraula, secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources. He warned such provision could destroy the organization of bureaucracy. Almost all secretaries protested against the provision during discussion at SAC. Niraula added that if provision of automatic promotion is implemented then the Public Service Commission – the constitutional body that recruits bureaucrats – would lose its relevance. He also protested providing 45 percent reservation to women working for more than 20 years in government service. He opined that reservation should be made only on training and capacity building aspects.

The employees' associations close to seven parties have been pressurizing the government to pass the bill along with the provision for automatic promotion. nepalnews.com sd Dec 03 06