Woman boss of the metropolis

Father Shyamdev and mother Usha Shrestha Das taught in government schools. They also encouraged Rekha to enter government service from childhood. Because of this, she started preparing for public service and became an officer in 2074. After four years in the year 2078, she succeeded in getting nominated as joint secretary through open competition. But Rekha has struggled a lot to reach here.

Rekha's father Shyamdev Das used to teach in Kailali. Rekha was born there. Later his father was transferred to Jhapa. She reached Jhapa with her parents. She grew up there. She grew up there and completed her school level studies in Jhapa. "My father was the headmaster of a government school, so he used to tell me not to send my children to private schools," says Rekha, "to win the trust of others, we all studied in government schools, my brother and my elder father's son."

'I studied at Mechi Multipurpose Campus till graduation, then came to Kathmandu for higher education,' she says, 'In graduation, I took compulsory English and Sociology subjects.' Later, she completed her master's degree in English from Tribhuvan University. I will enroll in MPhil immediately. I completed my MPhil in English,” she says, “Now I am thinking of pursuing a PhD.” She has about 9 years of experience in the field of teaching. His teaching journey started from Goldengate College and reached Ratnarajya via Madan Bhandari College.

Rekha entered the government service in 2074. She had written names for branch officers in both foreign affairs and administration groups. She was recommended to the administration group. "My brother and brother used to tell me about their experiences in government service," she says, "I am good at teaching." But Dai used to remind me that the satisfaction of joining the government service is different. She married businessman Sameer Shrestha in 2072. After that, my husband also encouraged me to study public service. He used to give suggestions.

Chief Administrative Officer of Lalitpur Metropolitan Municipality Rekha Das Shrestha . Photos: Hemant Shrestha/Kantipur

After getting pressure and suggestions from all over, she started preparing for public service. But she had not left the profession of teaching. "I worked hard for public service for a whole year," she says, "My name came out in both administration and foreign affairs." As the recommendation was for administration, I was appointed to the immigration department under the Home Office. For two years, she worked under the Home Office. A daughter was born in 2077. This year, she took out her name in writing for the deputy secretary. "But I was thrown into the oral," she said.

In 2078, she gave the exam for both joint secretary and deputy secretary posts. The names for the joint secretary came out in writing to both the foreign affairs and administration groups. "I gave the exam for both joint secretary and deputy secretary," she says. After becoming joint secretary, she headed the Muslim Commission for some time. After that, she worked under the office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

Currently, he is holding the leadership as the chief administrative officer of Lalitpur Metropolitan Municipality. She reached the metropolis on May 25. She said that she is probably the first female administrator to lead the metropolis. 'Until now, women have not been transferred to the role of chief administrative officer of the metropolis,' she said, 'While under the office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, she was in the planning and coordination division between the union, state and local levels. She also says that she succeeded in making very important decisions regarding the elimination of the duplicity seen during the implementation of federalism.

"After the people's representatives came, the second term is continuing after completing the first term. The National Coordination Council meeting made important decisions in 2080 regarding the elimination of the duplication seen in the federalism," she said. We visited all seven provinces and interacted. We have taken suggestions regarding the duplication of rights.'

According to him, the task description was modified by a team with experts at that time. That happened under my leadership. We have already submitted the work details to the Prime Minister,' she said, 'I felt a kind of desire to stay and work in the local government.' "Services can be provided to the people at the lower level and some rights have not been fully utilized, that's why there is a rush to work in the local government," she says. I took it, but I came to work at the local level.'

After the home administration, the local administration is also covered and before that, it is appropriate to sit in the local government and understand the grassroots problems before going to handle the local administration. She says that she chose this field because she learned a lot from working in the local government. "There were many who asked me why I quit being a CDO and went to the metropolitan city," she says, "I asked for this place myself."

He has different experience in public service preparation. "We should first be clear about the purpose with which we are going to enter the government service," she says. Complaints can be many. You cannot work in a desperate state of mind.' So Rekha advises the new generation to enter this field only after thinking carefully. What kind of expectations do people have from us after entering the government service? What kind of expectations does the state have from us?', she says, 'Many of them are government jobs. They say that respect is earned and money is earned, before saying this, we should understand how much we can contribute in this field, what are the limitations.'

We are the implementers of the government's policy. Moreover, we are a permanent government," she says. "Even when there is no government, we have to work. People have to be served. He suggested that people should be inspired by the spirit of service in this field. Similarly, he argues that the subject matter must be clear when studying public service. "The main thing is not to be based only on the subject matter, you should try to understand everything," she said, "It is important to understand how much work you can do later, even if you succeed in just one book." She said that you should try to understand things and get external knowledge.

'External knowledge is what is happening abroad, you have to understand it by connecting it with some content or context of the book, it is different from reading it,' she says, 'I studied as much as I could.' Rekha has experience, 'I didn't have much time while preparing for joint secretary. I tried to understand and read, I took the exam with an open mind. Rekha says that she cannot do well even in the subject she knows when she takes the exam under pressure.

"When writing an answer, you should focus more on how you can present yourself creatively," she said. She mentions that time management is very important while writing answers. "Taking care of the time and keeping an open mind, Anand wrote the things I had read in the answer book without stress," she says, "I wrote more answers to what the questions were trying to ask, I tried to write creative answers rather than things from books." The officer's exam is somewhat subjective. He has experience that in the exam of Deputy Secretary, Joint Secretary, the subject is different and the matter is less. which is also analytical.

Rekha says that her family also played a big role in her success. "You are not restricted by the family because you are a girl," she says, "from a young age, my parents gave me good manners and encouraged me, so I never felt that I was less than a boy." . After entering the government service, your father was happy and increased your responsibility. He said that he should work with responsibility,' she said.

She says that all the employees from the mayor are happy when a woman comes as the chief administrative officer for the first time in the metropolis . Under his leadership, there are currently around 900 employees in the metropolis. There are only 40 city police women. "Everyone has been excited since I came," she says, "It is heard that women's leadership in public administration is successful. I will try for that. I will add some bricks to the metropolis where the services are being provided so that the citizens can feel it directly.'

The local government is directly connected with the people. "We should be able to provide services in such a way that there is a direct feeling," she adds. For that, she reaches the office at 9 in the morning. "After sending my daughter to school, I will reach the office soon," she says, "Now I am new to this office. That's why I come quickly to understand, ask and study about the work, how to do it. In recent days, Rekha has experienced a change in the belief that all work should be done by women.

"Not only men, women are also working," she says, "so both of them have equal responsibility to run the household." That's why she finishes all the office work in the office. "I don't carry office files home," she says, "rather, I work till the evening, I work in the office, I only give time to my family at home."