Kathmandu, July 1: Members of the House of Representatives were unaware that a key provision in the Federal Civil Service Bill 2080, passed Sunday, had been significantly altered. Clause 82, sub-clause 4 introduces a two-year cooling-off period preventing retired civil servants from holding constitutional or government posts. However, sub-clause 5 effectively nullifies this by allowing first-class and special-class officers—secretaries and joint secretaries—to assume such positions immediately after retirement.
Originally, the controversial exemption appeared as sub-clause 4 but was shifted to sub-clause 5 after criticism, without lawmakers realizing the contradiction. Several MPs had praised the bill for incorporating the cooling-off period, unaware of the conflicting exemption clause. Following media reports exposing the issue, a group of lawmakers plans to raise the matter with Speaker Devraj Ghimire.
State Affairs Committee Chair Ramhari Khatiwada expressed shock, saying lawmakers were misled. “We thought the cooling-off provision was intact, but someone appears to have inserted the word ‘except’ deceptively."
Committee member Hridayram Thani said they were astonished to find that the final bill allows high-ranking civil servants to take up constitutional and diplomatic posts despite the supposed restriction. “This undermines the very purpose of the cooling-off period,” he added.
The committee now plans to halt the bill’s advance to the National Assembly until sub-clause 5 is amended. Lawmakers argue the Speaker or National Assembly can still rectify the text. Thani noted that the bill sent from the State Affairs Committee to its Secretariat for language adjustment was modified in consultation with the Ministries of Federal Affairs and Law. One committee member suspects the phrase exempting certain appointments was inserted under the guise of language refinement.
Sources claim senior civil servants, including Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, lobbied to scrap the cooling period and met with then-PM KP Sharma Oli, who reportedly agreed and directed Federal Affairs Minister Raj Kumar Gupta to drop it. However, Minister Gupta insisted on keeping the provision.
People's News Monitoring Service