The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration has brought a separate code of conduct for the Chief Administrative Officers working at the local level. The ministry has brought the code of conduct to promote good governance by making the behavior of the Chief Administrative Officer impartial, disciplined, dignified and ethical. 

The code of conduct includes provisions that the Chief Administrative Officer should abide by the law, use public resources economically, be impartial in service delivery, and behave with people's representatives and service recipients in a dignified manner. The code of conduct also mentions the provision that the confidentiality of the office should be maintained, that corruption and conflict of interest should be avoided, and that the Chief Administrative Officer should play an active role in promoting good governance. The code of conduct also states that the Chief Administrative Officer should adopt, demonstrate and promote the values ​​and norms of federal governance and democracy. 

According to the code of conduct, the Chief Administrative Officer should maintain the dignity of his position and responsibilities when publishing content or making public statements on social media. According to which, it is stated that the opinions, comments or content posted on social media should not adversely affect the impartiality, credibility and dignity of government services. Similarly, it is mentioned that the Chief Administrative Officer should not use the influence of his position to favor any person, organization or group, make controversial political statements and engage in activities that create unnecessary controversy in public.

The code of conduct also states not to make public statements and confidential information on social media, to respect service recipients and to behave in a way that increases public trust in government bodies. In the 100 agenda of governance reforms brought by the government on Chaitra 13, it was said to implement the employee code of conduct in writing, prioritizing administrative reform and austerity, and to ensure an environment where employees work in a fair, neutral and dedicated manner to the effective implementation of government decisions while maintaining their professional dignity.

The ministry has stated that the code of conduct is expected to further systematize the conduct of the Chief Administrative Officer leading the administration at the local level, increase transparency and accountability in service delivery and make coordination between the federal, provincial and local levels effective.

A separate code of conduct has been issued for the local level Chief Administrative Officers with the aim of guiding the citizens for effective service delivery in coordination with the local government, said an official of the ministry. ‘Although there are various legal and policy provisions including the Civil Service Employees’ Conduct Regulations, 2065, the Civil Service Act, 2049, the code of conduct has been formulated to further clarify the role of the Chief Administrative Officer who works directly with the local government,’ he said. He said the code of conduct has been brought because the Chief Administrative Officer also has practical and administrative responsibilities that are not covered by the prevailing laws and regulations.

A Chief Administrative Officer said that although it seems that the code of conduct has been brought to solve the problems of lack of coordination between employees and people’s representatives at the local level, increasing redundancy and administrative problems, there is no need to bring a separate code of conduct for this. ‘Many of the provisions included in the recently formulated code of conduct are in the previous Civil Service Employees’ Conduct Regulations, 2065. It only seems like a code of conduct has been created,' he said. 

The Chief Administrative Officer says that employees who follow the law and rules should not be affected by additional acts or codes of conduct and that an umbrella law that covers all parties should be effectively implemented. 'Today the code of conduct for the Chief Administrative Officer has come, tomorrow the code of conduct for provincial employees will come, it seems that this will create more confusion and ambiguity,' he said, 'Rather than bringing new codes of conduct to solve the problem, the implementation of existing laws and coordination between employees and public representatives should be increased.' 

Administrative expert and former secretary Damodar Regmi says that since the necessary legal system to manage employee conduct already exists, emphasis should be placed on the effective implementation of existing laws rather than adding new codes of conduct. 'There are various laws and regulations to manage the conduct, discipline and responsibility of employees,' he said, 'May the code of conduct brought to institutionalize good governance, discipline and responsibility at the local level give positive results.' 

Chapter 7 of the Civil Service Act, 2049 BS mentions the provisions on conduct. It includes provisions such as punctuality, regularity, discipline and obedience, not to exert political or undue influence, not to participate in politics, not to criticize the Government of Nepal, prohibition on publishing news related to government affairs, prohibition on receiving donations, gifts, donations etc. and taking loans.