Three govt secretaries quit over appointment of new chief secy

Three senior government secretaries resigned on Monday, expressing dissatisfaction over the appointment of a 'junior' as the new chief secretary.

Sushil Jung Bahadur Rana

Dr Trilochan Upreti

Secretary of the Election Commission Shankar Koirala, Home Ministry secretary Sushil Jung Bahadur Rana and secretary of Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers (legal affairs) Dr Trilochan Upreti resigned from their posts. In their resignation letters separately submitted to the prime minister through newly appointed chief secretary Lila Mani Poudel, they complained that established norms were breached in the appointment of the chief secretary.

Koirala, the senior most civil servant prior to the appointment of Poudel as the new chief secretary, said in his resignation letter that the cabinet did not take into account "seniority and competence" while appointing the chief secretary.

Apparently, he was one of the candidates for the top position in bureaucracy while Rana and Upreti, along with three others, were also lobbying for the post.

The government on Sunday appointed Poudel to chief secretary. Before being elevated, he was secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. Previously, Poudel was secretary at the Home Ministry and Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry.

At 50, Poudel is the youngest chief secretary in the history of the country's bureaucracy. nepalnews.com