Kathmandu, April 13: After years of delay and one well-timed institutional collapse, the government has decided it cannot wait any longer. It is preparing to bring the Federal Civil Service Act through an ordinance, sidestepping the usual parliamentary grind after the House of Representatives (HoR) dissolution wiped out the earlier bill.
The bill had cleared the National Assembly on September 2 and was awaiting HoR approval. Ten days later, the lower house was dissolved, and the entire process collapsed. Restarting it through Parliament would take at least five to six months, possibly longer if committees get involved. Faced with that timeline, the government has chosen the faster, less ceremonial route.
Officials at the Prime Minister’s Office say a draft ordinance is underway, largely based on the National Assembly version, with some adjustments. A small team is working on revisions before it is formally introduced.
One of the biggest changes targets employee unions. The proposal scraps the current system that allows multiple unions with political affiliations. In its place, it introduces a single official union with limited authority. That marks a sharp break from the Civil Service Act of 1993, which permitted several politically linked groups to operate within the bureaucracy.
The ordinance also aims to shrink the federal workforce. The total number of positions would drop to around 30,000 from roughly 52,000. To make that cut possible, new tenure limits are being proposed. Joint secretaries would serve a maximum of 10 years, secretaries three years, and the chief secretary two years. Once those limits are reached, retirement would follow automatically, gradually reducing senior ranks.
Another provision likely to stay is the “cooling-off period,” which restricts immediate post-retirement appointments. This clause had already survived revisions during the bill’s journey through Parliament.
Regarding retirement age, the government seems undecided. The current limit of 58 years may remain, alongside a proposed 30-year service cap, whichever comes first. Earlier plans to raise the age to 60 in phases are now in limbo.
The National Assembly had also tweaked several provisions, including removing the post of additional secretary and opening some positions to competitive recruitment. Those changes are expected to carry into the ordinance, unless someone changes their mind at the last minute.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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