The elections for federal and provincial parliaments and local units have been held twice since the promulgation of the Constitution, and the transition process especially the one related to the administrative aspect remains incomplete. Earlier the federal government integrated the then-federal officials into the provincial and local units. However, there had been serious dissatisfaction among the integrated officials regarding their career growth perspectives, and inter-tier-related transfer. To console them, the government and the political leaders reiterated the drafting of the Federal Civil Service Act sooner to address their voices. At the same time, provinces too pressured the federal government to enact the federal civil service bill. Recently, the government has registered a new bill at the Parliament for the second time. The previous Federal Civil Service bill was withdrawn in 2021. This bill is significant to ending the transition period in the administrative system of the country and the implementation of federalism to the fullest. Also, the bill covers the loopholes of the draft withdrawn and contains the essence of the discussion held at the State Affairs Parliamentary Committee.
The key feature of the draft is the incorporation of the essence of federalism, it contains the provision of separate civil service at provincial and local levels. The draft has also tried to explain the interrelation among the three tiers and instructs provincial and local level governments to frame their rules accordingly. The draft bill has tried to make the bureaucracy more accountable with the provision of terms of reference and work agreements between the civil servants in the hierarchy. Despite this, the bill has several shortcomings.
Positions to be filled through open competition for Gazetted Officer Third Class have been reduced to 65 percent, this is likely to decrease the entry of fresh candidates. This provision must be changed because if we are to encourage young candidates the open competition must be increased to 75 percent. The remaining 25 percent can be filled through promotion and internal competition. The internal competition will promote a merit-based system where the capable ones will be selected based on performance and skills along with seniority. It also helps to foster transparency, and fairness and reduce favoritism while motivating employees to continuously improve and excel in their tasks. The leadership position will be filled with the best ones so they will get fresh perspectives and prepare the organization to adapt to changes and challenges more effectively.
Age eligibility for male and female candidates has also been reduced to 32 and 37 respectively. The reduction of the upper limit of age eligibility of the section officer candidates holds no strong logic behind it. This has spread disappointment among the candidates preparing for the enrollment. In the context of India, several categorizations have been made. The upper age limit ranges from 32 to 42 years and the number of attempts ranges from six times for the general category and unlimited attempts for economically weaker sections. Also, determining the total number of attempts can make a person more serious and motivated to prepare and perform the best without hampering mental health. Similarly, administrative efforts and costs will be managed more efficiently and ensure the system is not overwhelmed by repeated applications.
The retirement age has been raised from 58 to 60 years. As per the National Statistics Office (NSO) based on the data of the Nepal National Census 2021 Nepali people have an overall life expectancy of 71 years. According to Bishnu Prasad Kharel, chief of the Pension Management Office, pension costs are anticipated to be around Rs77 billion for the current fiscal year. It’s a sensible way to rein in government spending but this argument also needs to consider the facilities that civil servants receive and the expected costs to the national treasury.
Although this draft tried to incorporate the essence of federalism, it failed to end the centralized system. The current bill provisions for the chief secretary of the provincial government and the chief administrative officer of the local government to be a federal position. While there is a time limit of ten years for the latter—the time after which the position will be transferred to the relevant level of government—no such provision is present for the position of chief secretary of provincial government. Experts have regarded this provision to be regressive. The main challenge is one of conflict of interest: Who are the provincial and local personnel answerable to? Federal transition process is already incomplete because of a heavy-handed central government. This provision will only further the power of central government and limit the exercise of functions by sub-national governments, especially by increasing tensions between the subnational bureaucracy and the executive.
While the bill has several flaws, it is nonetheless important in order to effectively complete our transition process. The poor parliamentary proceedings, hung parliament, the low enthusiasm of the Members of Parliament, and their performance tracks leave doubt about the passing of the draft any time sooner.
Nilima Maharjan is a researcher at Samriddhi Foundation, an economic policy think tank based in Kathmandu. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the views of the organization.
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