While the government has dismissed the member secretary appointed from among the senior employees of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), the vice-chairman who received a political appointment remains in office. The government has dismissed member secretary Mahesh Bhattarai from the post through an ordinance made to amend some Nepal Acts and an ordinance related to the removal of public officials.

Accusing the government of dismissing those appointed as member secretaries from among employees and protecting those who received political appointments, a director (joint secretary) of CTEVT said that the government has made the decision without any legal basis. ‘Member secretary is a post appointed by the Council of Ministers from among the joint secretaries of CTEVT by promoting them to the position of secretary,’ he said, ‘Vice-chairman is a post appointed by the government. The member secretary was removed, but the vice-chairman was not removed. The government made a strange decision. We are surprised.'

After the government issued the ordinance, Member Secretary Mahesh Bhattarai has left CTEVT with a letter of dismissal from the Ministry of Education. Education Secretary Chudamani Poudel had given him a letter of dismissal from the post of Member Secretary on April 21. The responsibility of the acting Member Secretary has been assigned to Joint Secretary Bhumeshwor Dhungana. Vice President Mohammad Safiullah remains in his post. The details of the Member Secretary have been removed from the CTEVT website, while the details of the Vice President remain the same.

There is a provision in the Act for the Council of Ministers to appoint Member Secretary from among the senior employees of CTEVT. Bhattarai was appointed as per the same provision. Bhattarai complained that he was dismissed from his job as there was no other post in CTEVT other than the post of Member Secretary to which he was promoted. ‘How can the promotion made through the government’s secretary promotion process be revoked when the post of member secretary has not been abolished?’ he said. He complained that he had to be dismissed from his job with 14 months left to serve as an employee according to the age limit.

Secretary Bhattarai has complained to Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel through social media that he has been treated unfairly. ‘I was permanently appointed as a Construction Instructor Officer Third Class of CTEVT on 12 Jestha 2053 through competition, promoted to Senior Sanitary Instructor Officer Second Class on 12 Bhadra 2059, promoted to Engineering Coordinator Officer First Class on 18 Chaitra 2067 and promoted to Member Secretary Officer Special Class on 12 Poush 2080 and have been an employee working in the council continuously. "Among the 1,596 people who were recently dismissed, I am the only one who is an employee working in my position as prescribed by the Council Act, Rules and Regulations, not a political appointee," Bhattarai wrote on Facebook.

Officials from the Ministry of Education and CTEVT are reluctant to speak formally on the matter. "The ordinance seems to have suspended the tenure of the nominated members of the CTEVT assembly. Both the member secretary and the vice-chairman are members," said an official from the Ministry of Education. "It is a strange decision that those who were promoted from employees and appointed will be dismissed from their jobs, while those who received political appointments will remain in their posts. I too have not been able to understand this issue." Although the term of office of the vice-chairman has been removed from the ordinance, sources claim that the vice-chairman Safiullah was not given a letter of dismissal due to political pressure. The ordinance states that the dismissal will be automatic and that the information regarding it will be given by the secretary of the ministry.

The two ordinances have amended Sub-section 2A of Section 2 and Sub-section 3.6 of Section 3 of the Technical Education and Vocational Training Council Act, 2045. Section 2 states that the term of office of the CTEVT assembly shall be four years and they may be re-nominated after the term of office expires. The Act provided for the assembly chaired by the Minister of Education to have a member secretary and vice-chair along with other nominated members. Section 3 contains provisions related to the CTEVT council. It stated that the term of office of the members would be 4 years. That section has also been suspended.

Minister Pokharel's private deputy secretary Diwakar Bhujel says that the decision has been made as per the provisions of the ordinance in the context of CTEVT. He says that the ministry will hold further discussions as complaints have been received regarding Bhattarai.

Former CTEVT member secretary Ramesh Kumar Bakhti has commented that injustice was done by dismissing member secretary Bhattarai. ‘The post of member secretary is a post that is appointed by completing the prescribed process from employees who have gained at least five years of work experience at the first class officer level.’ It is not possible to understand how this post was dismissed. The member secretary is not a post that is appointed from outside the council’s employees. Therefore, it is definitely an injustice when the member secretary is dismissed,’ he said.

The interim government led by Sushila Karki had appointed Safiullah as the vice-chairman on 3 Magh. There is a provision for the appointment of the vice-chairman based on the recommendation of the recommendation committee formed by the government. The committee has a provision for sending three names and appointing one of them. After the Supreme Court removed Om Prasad Baral, the vice-chairman appointed by the KP Sharma Oli-led government, raising questions about his qualifications, the interim government appointed Safiullah for a four-year term through a recommendation committee.

Although the vice-chairman's post was suspended through an ordinance, he has not been removed from office. Ministry and CTEVT officials have alleged that Safiullah was not removed from office due to the protection of high-ranking officials involved in the government. Safiullah is the former general manager of Nepal Drug Limited.