Kathmandu, Sept 30: The government has decided to table the Federal Civil Service Bill in Parliament, ruling out its immediate introduction through an ordinance.
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the bill governing the formation, operation and service conditions of the federal civil service for submission to Parliament.
The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration had forwarded the bill to the Cabinet on Monday after receiving recommendations from the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The bill will now go through the regular parliamentary process before becoming law. Senior constitutional lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya said the government cannot introduce an ordinance on a matter once a bill has been registered in Parliament unless it first withdraws the bill.
He said withdrawing a registered bill and subsequently issuing an ordinance on the same matter could raise questions of bad faith, as ordinances are generally intended for exceptional and urgent circumstances.
The parliamentary process means the new Civil Service Act may not come into force until at least December or January.
A major provision in the bill proposes one-time compulsory retirement for civil servants who have reached 55 years of age or completed 30 years of service.
It also proposes lateral entry into the civil service at joint secretary and secretary equivalent levels.
The PSC has opposed both provisions, although the finance and law ministries have endorsed the proposed “55 years or 30 years of service” retirement rule.
Had the provision been introduced immediately through an ordinance, around 13,000 civil servants, including many senior officials, could have faced compulsory retirement.
Nepal has been trying to enact a Federal Civil Service Act for about a decade. Despite the adoption of federalism, the civil service continues to operate largely under the Civil Service Act, 1993.
Login to add a comment