Two years cooling period, Inter-province transfer opened
KATHMANDU, June 29: The House of Representatives has passed the Federal Civil Service Bill 2080 BS. A meeting of the lower house on Sunday passed the bill presented by Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Raj Kumar Gupta.
Minister Gupta said that the bill has come in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal and expressed happiness over the passage of the bill which has been pending for around ten years. Claiming that the bill would address most of the dissatisfaction among the employees, he said a system has been developed to measure the performance of the employees.
After the passage of the bill, Speaker Devraj Ghimire said that this bill is a historic and far-reaching policy departure point among the legal infrastructures required for the successful implementation of federalism.
During the discussion, lawmakers from most of the parties welcomed the bill and drew the government's attention towards its implementation.
Bill bars local units from recruiting civil servants
Two years cooling period for retirees
The bill provides for a cooling period of two years for retired civil servants, barring employees from accepting other appointments after retirement without prior approval.
The provision prohibits retirees from joining any institution except constitutional, diplomatic, intergovernmental, or international development partner organizations during this period. Additionally, employees will be restricted from working as staff or consultants in organizations related to their previous department or in entities regulated by it for one year after retirement.
Employees who violate the cooling period without government approval will forfeit service benefits outlined in the Civil Service Act. If this provision is enacted, those accepting appointments within two years of retirement will not be eligible for a pension or other government benefits.
The government has introduced this measure to prevent secretaries and undersecretaries from manipulating the system for personal gain by creating favorable conditions for post-retirement appointments while in office.
The government believes that the bill will help develop decentralised skills in the workload management and policy-making process at the secretariat level by providing additional secretaries.
The bill was registered at the Parliament Secretariat on March 4, 2024. The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on Sunday, will now go to the National Assembly. It will be implemented after the President certifies it through the Speaker after it is passed by the House of Representatives.
Inter-province transfer opened
With the passage of the bill, the way for inter-province transfer of civil servants has been opened. Civil servants of the local level will now be able to transfer inter-province in a way that suits them.
According to the government, the provision of transfer has been included with the objective of providing relief to the employees due to family, health and special reasons in the agreement of the concerned province. Similarly, the bill has abolished the practice of transferring employees monthly and made provision for transfer in the cyclical system.
