The National Assembly has made provision for a two-year 'cooling off period' for Joint Secretary, Secretary and Chief Secretary (Special and First Class) of Civil Services. It has been clarified that he cannot become an ambassador for two years.
What you should know
The National Assembly unanimously passed the Federal Civil Bill on Tuesday, correcting the loophole in the 'cooling off period' provision. Some of the amendments made by the House of Representatives in the bill have also been reversed by the National Assembly.
The National Assembly has made provision for a two-year 'cooling off period' for Joint Secretary, Secretary and Chief Secretary (Special and First Class) of Civil Services. Earlier, a 'cooling off period' was arranged for civil servants of all levels and categories. The National Assembly has made it clear that they cannot become ambassadors for two years.
"An employee who has resigned or retired from a gazetted special or first-class position in the federal civil service or other government service shall not be appointed to any constitutional, diplomatic or other government position before the completion of a period of two years from the date of acceptance of resignation or retirement from service," the National Assembly has arranged.
Previously, during the passage of the House of Representatives, regarding the 'cooling off period', in section 82 (4) of the Bill, it was provided that 'an employee who has resigned or retired from civil service or other government service shall not be appointed to any constitutional or government position before the completion of a period of two years from the date of retirement.' But in order to break it, in section 82, (5), (a) the provision of 'cooling off period' was made ineffective by providing that appointments cannot be taken only in 'constitutional or diplomatic appointments and any other appointments made by the Government of Nepal'. In the
bill, the National Assembly has also made a provision that 10% of the gazetted first class (Joint Secretary) posts should be filled through open competition. The House of Representatives arranged to fill 15 percent of the posts through intra-level competition and the remaining 85 percent through promotions. The National Assembly has decided to maintain the system proposed by the government, which is 10 percent open, 10 percent intra-level competition and the remaining 80 percent by promotion.
Naib Subba (Assistant Fifth) has also been reversed by the National Assembly. The House of Representatives accepted the government's proposal to fill up the post by all promotions. The National Assembly has passed a system to fill up 10% of posts in NASU through open competition, 10% through internal competition and the remaining 80% through promotion.
The National Assembly has overturned the amendment of the House of Representatives, which should include civil servants in the Social Security Fund. When the government proposes the bill, there is a provision for the government to implement a contribution-based health insurance scheme in association with the social security fund established according to the prevailing law for the medical treatment of civil servants and family members of civil servants.
The House of Representatives arranged to join the Citizen Investment Fund along with the Social Security Fund. The National Assembly has made a provision to be affiliated with the Health Insurance Board. The National Assembly has made a provision that the Chief Secretary should enter into a performance agreement with the Prime Minister and the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court with the Chief Justice. Likewise, the method of retirement due to the age limit of the employee will be as passed by the House of Representatives. Age limit of 58 years till current financial year, 59 years thereafter and 60 years after 1 year for all employees will be maintained.
A question was raised in the meeting that the announcement made by the Chairman of the Legislation Management Committee of the National Assembly that there is provision for employees to teach public service preparation classes outside of office hours was not included in the report. Section 82 (3) of the Bill stipulates that no civil servant shall be allowed to give training in the training program conducted for the preparation of the competitive examination conducted by the Public Service Commission or public body. The MPs were of the opinion that this arrangement should be amended.
Member of Parliament Maya Prasad Sharma said that there was an agreement to allow him to work outside office hours, but it was reversed by the time he reached Parliament. "We will not deny the right to eat by working outside the office hours," he said. MP Radheshyam Paswan suspected that the bill that was debated in the House of Representatives will remain the same even when it comes to the National Assembly. "There was an agreement in the legislative committee on the provision of teaching outside office hours," Paswan said, "but when he came here, it was removed from the report." Why was it removed? This was done here like 'cooling off period'. In the
meeting, Legislation Management Committee Chairperson Tulsa Dahal said that arrangements can be made to teach outside office hours. However, this matter is not covered in the report. Officials of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration were of the position that civil servants should not be allowed to study. The government's proposal was supported by the ruling UML, Congress and some MPs of the United Samajwadi Party. The main opposition Maoists, some members of the United Socialist Party and members of the JSP Nepal were of the opinion that there should be a provision for teaching outside office hours. In the
meeting, Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Bhagwati Neupane said that the bill is necessary to strengthen administrative federalism. "There was a need to manage staff according to the spirit of federalism and to develop a good governance-oriented staff system, so this bill was inevitable," she said. The bill passed by the National Assembly has been sent back to the House of Representatives with a message. This bill will now have to be approved by the House of Representatives with amendments and sent to the President for verification by Speaker Devraj Ghimire. After the approval by the President, it will be implemented as a law.
