Kathmandu, June 20: During a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee under the House of Representatives on May 15, 2025, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak proposed a two-year cooling-off period for government employees. This provision bars former government employees from taking up another public appointment immediately after resigning or retiring.

According to Committee Chair Ramhari Khatiwada, the Home Minister’s proposal created a consensus environment that led to the unanimous endorsement of the Civil Service Bill on the same day. The meeting was notable for the presence of three government ministers. Home Minister Lekhak attended as an ex-officio member, while Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Rajkumar Gupta presented the bill. Education, Science and Technology Minister Raghuji Pant represented Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, having brought a formal letter on his behalf.

Nepali Congress lawmaker Hridayram Thani recalled that all three ministers had voiced support for the proposed two-year cooling-off period.

The ruling parties, including the Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre, backed the inclusion of this provision in the "Bill to Make Provisions Regarding the Formation, Operation and Conditions of Service of the Federal Civil Service." Although the CPN-UML also supported the idea of a cooling period, they initially favored limiting it to one year. However, after the Home Minister formally proposed a two-year period on behalf of the government, the committee members swiftly backed the change. That day, Lekhak stated unequivocally, “Let’s fix the cooling period at two years.”

According to Lekhak, the ministers urged committee members to show similar flexibility in raising the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, just as the government had compromised on the cooling period. MP Thani remarked: “The ministers agreed not to insist on a fixed retirement age. They suggested that if we phased in the new retirement age gradually—58 years in the first year, 59 the next, and 60 the following year—this bill could be passed today.”

The committee accepted the suggestion, and the final agreement included a two-year cooling period and a phased implementation of the retirement age. As a result, the committee’s report on the Civil Service Bill was submitted to the House of Representatives by Chairman Khatiwada on June 14, 2025 (1 Asar 2082). The bill was scheduled for passage on June 17 (3 Asar), following Cabinet-level discussion of its provisions the previous day.

However, the bill’s trajectory was unexpectedly disrupted. The Cabinet’s discussion on the cooling-off period triggered political ripples, and the bill was dropped from the House agenda on June 17. It was not included in the agenda for the subsequent session on June 19 either—breaking with parliamentary practice, where pending items typically carry over to the next day’s schedule. This omission led to sharp questions in the House during emergency time.

Parties including the CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN-Unified Socialist accused the government of stalling the bill for political reasons. They questioned both the government and the Speaker about the unexplained delay in tabling the bill for passage.

Maoist Centre Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey expressed suspicion that the delay reflected an unwillingness to fully implement federalism. He insisted the Civil Service Bill should be brought forward alongside other critical legislation such as the School Education Bill and the Citizenship Bill. “The government must show its commitment by urgently including the Citizenship Bill in the agenda,” he demanded, accusing the administration of deliberately blocking the legislative process under the guise of transparency.

Similarly, CPN-Unified Socialist Senior Vice President Rajendra Pandey leveled serious charges, claiming that bureaucrats were actively resisting the bill and that the government was yielding to pressure from within the civil service.

People’s News Monitoring Service