Butwal, Sept 16: Personal secretariats of provincial officeholders and lawmakers in Lumbini, which were cut following the Gen Z movement, are once again being expanded with new appointments.
The Lumbini provincial government has revived the previous provision allowing the chief minister, ministers, speaker, deputy speaker, opposition leader and provincial lawmakers to appoint personal staff. The government published the provision in the provincial gazette, paving the way for appointments to begin.
Following the Gen Z movement, the federal interim government had cut personal staff hired by provincial officeholders and lawmakers whose salaries and allowances were paid from the state treasury. Now, after the provincial cabinet reopened the legal provision, officeholders and lawmakers have started appointing people close to them as personal staff.
The Lumbini cabinet amended Schedule 2 of the “Chief Minister and Ministers’ Remuneration Act, 2018” at its meeting on August 20. Under the amended provision, the chief minister can appoint a political adviser, expert, chief personal secretary, personal secretary, press coordinator and personal assistant. The cabinet decision was published in the gazette on August 21.
Under the new arrangement, a political adviser will receive facilities equivalent to those of a state minister. Experts and chief personal secretaries will receive benefits equivalent to undersecretaries, while personal secretaries and press coordinators will receive facilities equivalent to section officers. Personal assistants will receive benefits equivalent to non-gazetted first-class officials.
Chief Minister Chet Narayan Acharya has not yet appointed a political adviser or expert, but his secretariat already has personal staff, assistants and a press coordinator.
Provincial government spokesperson and Minister Ramji Prasad Ghimire said the arrangement would naturally be implemented after the cabinet approved it and the provision was published in the gazette.
Ghimire said he was unaware of any plan by the chief minister to appoint a political adviser or experts.
Ministers can also appoint personal secretaries, personal assistants, office helpers and light vehicle drivers under the new arrangement.
Before the Gen Z movement, up to 16 employees worked in the Lumbini chief minister’s secretariat, with their salaries and allowances paid by the state.
After the movement, however, the secretariat was reduced to three people under instructions from the then federal interim government: personal officer Lekhnath Khanal, Pradeep Nepali and press coordinator Dasharath Ghimire.
The secretariat has now begun expanding after the provincial government changed the legal provisions and reopened the way for appointing personal staff.
The speaker can also appoint a personal secretary, press coordinator, personal assistant, office helper and light vehicle driver under the new arrangement.
The interim government had earlier allowed the speaker to appoint a personal secretary, but Speaker Tularam Gharti Magar had announced the dissolution of his five-member secretariat. His secretariat has now been expanded again under the new provision.
A provincial minister said officeholders and lawmakers had started appointing personal staff of their choice after publication of the gazette notification opened the legal route for such appointments.
Provincial lawmakers are also now allowed to appoint personal staff. According to Provincial Assembly Secretary Durlabh Pun Magar, the provision concerning personal secretaries for lawmakers had remained suspended for seven months..
The growing number of personal staff, which will add to the financial burden on the state treasury, has already begun to draw questions.
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