KATHMANDU, May 10: By the end of the current fiscal year 2024/25, or by mid-July, seven secretary and sixteen undersecretary positions will become vacant. On Thursday, one of the seven secretaries received compulsory retirement.
Binod Prakash Singh, the Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, received compulsory retirement on Thursday. He served 38 years in the civil service and also worked as the secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Federal Affairs, and General Administration during his tenure.
Sources at the Department of National Personnel Records state that Ganesh Pandey, the Controller General of Accounts, will retire in five days. He will begin his compulsory retirement on May 13. Similarly, Madhu Bhetuwal, the Secretary of the Water and Energy Commission, will retire on May 20. Sudarshan Khadka, the Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat, will go to his compulsory retirement on June 12.
Two days earlier, Uday Sapkota, the Secretary of the Ministry of Law, will retire. Sapkota will begin his compulsory retirement on June 10. Bamdev Adhikari, the Deputy Auditor General at the Office of the Auditor General, will retire on June 20, and Raghuram Bista, the Chief Secretary of Gandaki Province, will retire on June 6.
The Civil Service Rules of 2049 envisions two provisions for compulsory retirement of secretaries. A secretary must retire compulsorily upon either reaching the age limit of 58 years or completing a five-year tenure as a secretary.
The provision that takes effect first will determine the secretary's compulsory retirement. However, undersecretaries do not have a fixed five-year tenure requirement. They must retire once they reach the age limit of 58 years. The Civil Service has 72 secretary positions and 560 undersecretary positions, excluding those in health services.
The law mandates that when a secretary position falls vacant, the promotion recommendation committee, led by the chairman of the Public Service Commission, meets to recommend the names of three senior undersecretaries based on seniority. The Cabinet then selects one of these three. Occasionally, the Cabinet bypasses the two most senior recommendations and selects the undersecretary ranked third for promotion to secretary.
According to the Department of National Personnel Records, 16 undersecretaries, including Shivaraj Chaulagai, Chandi Ghimire, Rameshwar Marhatta, Nurhari Khatiwada, Kiran Rupakheti, and Govinda Gauli, will retire compulsorily by mid-July in the current fiscal year.
Each year, the Department of National Personnel Records (Civil) releases a list of employees who are set to retire within the fiscal year. It informs employees about their retirement six months in advance. Currently, the total number of positions across the federal, provincial, and local levels is approximately 136,000. Of these, 52,000 positions are at the federal level, 22,000 at the provincial level, and around 65,000 at the local level.