Dang, Aug. 7: The Lumbini Provincial Government is set to restore salaries and benefits for personal aides of provincial lawmakers, following the federal government’s decision to reinstate similar facilities for members of the federal parliament.
Government spokesperson and Health Minister Ramji Prasad Ghimire said the provision will take effect from the current fiscal year, with benefits to be provided from mid-July. The provincial cabinet is expected to formally endorse the decision.
“The provincial law already allows lawmakers to appoint personal aides and provides for their salaries and benefits,” Ghimire said. “We are now implementing that legal provision.”
The facility had been suspended after the Gen Z movement, when the Sushila Karki-led government decided to discontinue the benefits. The Ministry of Finance later instructed provincial governments to halt the payments, leaving lawmakers’ aides without salaries throughout the last fiscal year.
Ghimire said aides who continued working without pay will now receive benefits from the start of the current fiscal year. Lawmakers who have not yet appointed aides will be able to do so through the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, with benefits starting from the date of appointment.
Provincial Assembly Secretary Durlabh Kumar Pun said the suspension resulted from the federal government’s circular, not from any change in provincial law.
“The legal provision remains in place,” Pun said. “Once the Cabinet approves the decision, the facility will resume.”
The Lumbini Provincial Assembly has 83 members. Benefits for aides to the chief minister, eight ministers, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker continued even after the suspension. The new decision will extend the facility to the remaining provincial lawmakers.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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