KATHMANDU, Sept 2: After failing to remove the cooling period provision, Chief Secretary Eknarayan Aryal, along with some secretaries and joint secretaries, has begun maneuvering to implement the retirement age of 59 under the Federal Civil Service Act immediately.
During a meeting of the Legislative Management Committee of the National Assembly on Monday, the Civil Service Bill could not be passed as no consensus was reached on whether to set the retirement age at 59 immediately or implement it from the next fiscal year (FY) after the bill’s certification.
The Civil Service Bill, as sent by the House of Representatives (HoR) to the National Assembly, proposes raising the retirement age from 58 to 60, but its implementation would start from the next FY. Accordingly, the increase in retirement age from 58 to 60 years would be applied in three phases: 58 in the first year, 59 in the second year, and 60 in the third year after the bill’s certification.
However, after the bill reached the National Assembly’s Legislative Committee, some members insisted that the retirement age should be raised from the year the Civil Service Bill is certified. According to them, it should be 59 in the first year and 60 in the second year.
Retirement age Increase threatens 2,500 new govt appointments
For this reason, the Legislative Committee could not pass the bill. During the committee meeting, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Bhagwati Neupane herself insisted on setting the retirement age at 59 in the first year. Members of the Nepali Congress and UML in the committee also agreed with her stance. However, opposition members from the CPN (Maoist) and Unified Socialist Party disagreed with setting the retirement age at 59 immediately. This disagreement prevented the bill from being passed. The committee had planned to pass the bill earlier on Monday.
Chief Secretary Aryal is scheduled to retire on 25 November this year due to the 58-year retirement age, even though three years remain in his tenure as Chief Secretary. While the term for Chief Secretary is three years, he will leave office prematurely because of the current retirement age limit. If the age limit is raised to 59 immediately, he would be able to complete his full term.
Similarly, this year, Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Secretary Dr. Ram Prasad Ghimire; Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Phanindra Gautam; Industry, Youth, and Sports Secretary Dr. Hariprasad Lamsal; Agriculture and Livestock Development Secretary Dr. Deepak Kumar Kharel; and Nepal Trust Secretary Ramadhar Sah, among others, are retiring due to the 58-year age limit.
Additionally, 45 joint secretaries are also set to retire this FY due to the 58-year age limit. If the retirement age is immediately raised to 59, they would all benefit. The maneuvering of the Chief Secretary, secretaries, and joint secretaries who are to retire this year has led some lawmakers to push for implementing the 59-year retirement age immediately.
Ramhari Khatiwada, former chair of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee and MP from the HoR, stated that there was already an agreement between Prime Minister and UML Chairperson KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress that the retirement age would be implemented from the next FY after the bill’s certification. He added, “If the retirement age is raised to 59 from the year of certification, about 6,000 recruitment processes by the Public Service Commission would be halted. This would create major disappointment among the youth and increase emigration.”
He explained that the phase-wise approach—58 in the first year, 59 in the second, and 60 in the third—was included in the bill so that ongoing recruitment processes by the Public Service Commission would not be interrupted. “The law is not made targeting any individual; it is made for the country and the people,” he added.
The Civil Service Bill was presented in the HoR on 4 March 2024 and passed on 29 June 2025 before being sent to the National Assembly. Once in the National Assembly, the bill was referred to the Legislative Committee for detailed clause-by-clause discussion.
The House of Representatives allows the National Assembly to correct errors in the bill. Under this provision, the Legislative Committee has maintained the cooling period. Once passed by the National Assembly, the bill will return to the HoR, which can make amendments before final approval.
