In an interview with Kantipur on 14 Bhadra 2081, the day after he was appointed as Chief Secretary, Ek Narayan Aryal announced that he would boost the morale of the employees.

He had said, ‘The Civil Service Bill presented in Parliament will be the first attempt to enact an Act.’

Aryal is retiring from Wednesday after completing 15 months of his tenure as Chief Secretary due to the age limit of 58. He did not live up to the expectations that were expected of him when he was appointed Chief Secretary. Instead, he was accused of forgetting his official dignity after reaching the highest position in the civil administration. Despite making some attempts at reform in the initial days, he could not show much change in terms of performance compared to previous Chief Secretaries.

Meanwhile, he was accused of playing the role of a ‘pimp’ who did not allow a ‘cooling off period’ in the Civil Service Act. The obstacle to the passage of the Civil Service Bill, which will play an important role in maintaining good governance in the country by making the personnel administration systematic and dynamic, has been established as a critical incident of his tenure. This has also overshadowed the reform work he did during his 15-month tenure.

He was accused of using employees to manipulate the issue passed by the State Administration and Good Governance Committee, known as the mini-parliament. Under whose guise did he gain the authority to overturn the decision made by the legislature? He was under the same question. He was criticized for not acting in accordance with his official conduct by leading the secretaries, especially by lobbying to remove the 'cooling off period' in the Federal Civil Service Act. After being appointed as the Chief Secretary, he had said, 'If a person who reaches a high position in the civil service does not keep his own interests in mind, many decisions can be correct.' But he was accused of showing personal greed for political appointments after his retirement by misrepresenting the provisions of the bill submitted by the government.

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He had directly pressured the Prime Minister and top leaders of political parties, including the secretaries of the ministries and the Parliament Secretariat. At that time, there was widespread criticism that he did not hold the position of Chief Secretary. He was accused of playing a game of politics against the government's proposal. Because he led the way in creating controversy, the time for the Civil Servants Bill to be passed by the House of Representatives was delayed. Finally, after it was passed by the National Assembly and reached the House of Representatives, the Parliament itself was dissolved due to the Gen-G movement.

Administrative federalism remained stagnant for 9 years after the country adopted a federal structure. Since the Parliament was dissolved, the Civil Servants Bill should be re-introduced from the beginning in the new Parliament. Aryal, on the other hand, continued to protest, saying that his name was unnecessarily attached to the issue of the cooling-off period. His argument was that this system should not be kept just because someone misused it. He had put forward the argument that specialist services should not be stopped and if it is to be stopped, it should be applied to everyone, not just the civil service. He has been arguing that if there is the will and ability to work, the Chief Secretary should also be given another opportunity.

Aryal, who was appointed by the KP Sharma Oli government while he was working as the Home Secretary, had presented himself as aggressively as he had done in the initial days. That pace could not be continued. The incident turned the administrative reform work started by Aryal into an average one. For a long time, the transfer system was never transparent and based on criteria. He tried to make it a system but failed. Known as a secretary with decision-making ability and a leadership role, Aryal was appointed as the Chief Secretary by the Oli government, ahead of three senior secretaries, Toyanarayan Gyawali, Ramkrishna Subedi and Dinesh Bhattarai.

• Also: A team including the Chief Secretary went on a race to pressure the government not to impose a 'cooling period'

Aryal, who entered the civil service in 2046 as a deputy subba, became the Chief Secretary after serving as the Secretary of Labor, Federal Affairs and General Administration, and Home. During his tenure before becoming the Chief Secretary, he was seen as a capable 'bureaucrat'. Since he became the Chief Secretary from Nasu, he understood the 'grassroots' of the employees. Therefore, there was not much criticism for making him the Chief Secretary ahead of the senior secretaries.

Aryal, who has experience as a Chief District Officer in Kathmandu, Makawanpur and other districts, a Consul in Calcutta, and various ministries, departments, agencies and offices, had been very aggressive in the initial days after becoming the Chief Secretary on the issue of administrative reform and good governance. He had held meetings of secretaries every month and made dozens of decisions on corruption control and good governance. He had given written instructions to the ministries. He had tried to make the Good Governance Division of the Prime Minister's Office more dynamic.

After becoming the Chief Secretary, he had instructed the secretaries to submit details and plans of the work they would do in the next 100 days. He had made decisions such as finalizing the ministry's file in 15 days, conducting an Organization and Management Survey (O&M), updating the details of employees within seven days, preparing a blueprint for transfer management in 15 days, and protecting government property, and instructed the secretaries to implement them.

Aryal had repeatedly instructed secretaries to emphasize good governance and transparency. But many of the complex issues of his instructions could not be implemented. The policy decision that any file should be finalized within 15 days and the reason for not finalizing it should be explained had received a lot of attention. But it could not be implemented effectively on one pretext or another. After the secretaries did not follow the decisions related to employee management and good governance in the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers with the participation of the secretaries, Aryal sought the role of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and the Vigilance Center. Especially in matters related to good governance and employee transfers, he sought the role of the Authority for the second time in April after the secretaries showed apathy in implementing the instructions given by the Prime Minister's Office and the decisions of the meetings held repeatedly under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aryal.

Aryal's claim in the list of achievements:

A day before his retirement, Chief Secretary Aryal has claimed that significant work has been done in governance, development management and service delivery during his 15-month tenure. The subject was mentioned in a public written statement on Monday.

The statement made public in a point-by-point manner mentions the formation of the National Cooperative Regulatory Authority, operation of an integrated social security program, use of biological data, regular discussions and progress regulation to remove the country from the greylist, and use of electronic systems in public services. He has called the statement issued by including issues such as the use and implementation of the policy laboratory concept, facilitation of development management, facilitation in controlling revenue leakage, reduction of the tendency to keep employees on standby, and the formation and implementation of a high-level governance reform commission as important work during his tenure.