A month and a half after the change of alliance, the secretaries of most of the ministries were changed

Ministries with large budgets, departments related to tax and revenue collection, and secretaries and department heads of ministries that may be involved in financial manipulation have been searched and transferred.

5 secretaries have been transferred from last week's cabinet meeting. During this period, 26 secretaries have been changed . The transfer of the heads of the Customs and Internal Revenue Department was done less than a month after the formation of the government. The Director General of the Internal Revenue Department was transferred within 45 days of the previous government's responsibility . According to sources in the Ministry of Finance, the heads of customs checkpoints are ready to be transferred carefully.

According to sources in the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, more than a week has passed since the proposal for the transfer of 18 joint secretaries was sent to the Prime Minister's Office. The list of transfers has not been made public as the chief secretary's secretariat is adding to the number. Even earlier, the list of joint secretary transfers was stopped in the Prime Minister's Office for more than one and a half months. Federal Affairs Ministry Secretary Vinod Prakash Singh was transferred on Friday. The list of joint secretaries recommended during that time is stuck in the Chief Minister's Secretariat.

Although the government has closed the house at the time when the law should be made, it is carefully transferring the employees it wants. "Even though there is no initiative to solve issues related to the common people, including cooperatives, they have been transferred," a joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance quipped.

Even though the government has stopped other works, the officials of the federal ministry say that the transfer of employees is going on fast. Initially, the government that changed the secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred the secretaries of the ministries of physical infrastructure and transport, energy, commerce and supplies, which had a large budget. At that time, Home Secretary Dinesh Bhattarai was sent to the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers office. The Council of Ministers transferred 13 secretaries for the third time and 5 secretaries were transferred for the fourth time a week ago (Friday).

Ministry and departmental heads who are involved in staff management, spend a lot of budget and may be involved in financial manipulation are prioritized for transfer . Secretary Singh of the Federal Ministry has been transferred and Mukund Niraula, who was transferred to the Vice President's office a few days ago, has been brought in his place .

Physical infrastructure secretary Keshav Kumar Sharma, who spends the infrastructure construction budget, has been sent to the Energy Commission. Gopal Sigdel of Energy Commission was taken to physical infrastructure . Secretary Sigdel was chosen by minister Raghuvir Mahaseth for infrastructure. Sarita Dawadi of the Water and Power Commission was sent to the Ministry of Irrigation. The Secretary of Nepal Trust Vishwavavu Pudasaini has been transferred to Science and Technology and its Secretary Pramiladevi Bajracharya has been transferred to Nepal Trust. Bagmati Province Chief Secretary Ghanshyam Upadhyay has been sent to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security. Upadhyaya has been sent to the vacant post after the retirement of Labor Secretary Kula Bhandari.

The government has prioritized not only the ministries but also the transfer of departmental heads connected with finance. On the proposal of Finance Minister Varshman Pun, the Council of Ministers transferred Internal Revenue Department Director General Bhupal Baral to the Ministry of Forests within 45 days of assuming charge.

The cadre of Baral Artha has been sent to the Forest Ministry. He was transferred internally on January 19. But one and a half months after taking over the job in the interior, he was transferred according to the decision of the Council of Ministers on March 12. Deputy Director General of Interior Arjun Prasad Bhattarai has also been transferred and sent to the Ministry of General Administration. Both of them were transferred within three weeks of the formation of the government. Sevent Pokharel has been sent to the Deputy Director General of Interior . Pokharel, who was transferred to the Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office, took leave after refusing to go there.

Finance Minister Pun has transferred Director General of Customs Department Shobhakant Paudel to the Public Finance Management Training Center in the second week of March. He was transferred to the post of Director General of Customs last May. During his 10-month tenure, he was praised for his efforts to prevent revenue evasion by strictly dealing with issues such as theft from border customs, low invoicing and so on. Sources claim that all the businessmen of major political parties have been putting pressure on the leadership of the Ministry of Finance for the transfer saying that he was forced to tighten the border customs . Paudel, who is considered to be involved in revenue administration, has been sent to finance management. Even before becoming the Director General of Customs, he was kept in the Ministry of Water Supply for a long time and was made unemployed.

Artha's eye on customs

Biratnagar, Birganj dry port, Bhairahawa, Tatopani, Mechi, Rasuwa, etc., are the Chief Deputy Secretary of Customs for Terai and Northern Passage. The post of Birganj Customs Chief is that of Joint Secretary. There is a provision to transfer the Deputy Secretary only in two years except in special circumstances. But the customs department has started making a list of office heads who have reached one year. A customs source says, "Since the leadership of the department has been changed, it has set its eyes on the customs checkpoint as per the wishes of the Ministry of Finance." But the deputy secretary of the department said that since the customs chiefs were sent by the previous government, they were prepared to call them even though the time was not enough. Now, except for Tatopani and Rasuwa, there is no possibility of any customs to reach the revenue target .

Tatopani has completed the revenue target with three months left to complete the financial year. Rasuwa has collected about 93 percent. Sources said that the customs chief is preparing to send the deputy secretary he wants on the pretext that the revenue is not enough. "Now the Minister of Finance is out". After coming, there is a preparation to change the head of customs," said the source. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has issued a circular not to transfer indiscriminately.

"But the way the government is changing departmental heads does not seem to disturb the authority's circular," said a finance ministry source.