The government has been stalling the promotion process of secretaries (special category) for a long time. No promotions have been made to secretaries since Mangsir. During the election government, the posts that became vacant after Mangsir were not promoted due to the election code of conduct. The government formed after the election seems to have adopted a policy of not promoting immediately as it is preparing to restructure the entire civil service.

According to the data of the Civil Service Library, 10 out of 70 posts in the special category are vacant. More secretaries are falling vacant. Two secretaries have already retired in Asar. The Chief Secretary and 3 other secretaries are retiring. Chief Secretary Suman Raj Aryal is retiring from Asar on Asar 25 due to the age limit of 58 years.

Secretaries Krishna Hari Pushkar is retiring on Asar 24 and Khagendra Prasad Nepal on Asar 28. Chiranjeevi Chataut has already retired on 15 Ashar, Pramila Devi Bajracharya on 17 Ashar, and Madhusudan Burlakoti on 21 Ashar. In the first three months of the coming fiscal year, 13 more secretaries will be retired.

According to the data of Kitabkhana, the Nepal Administrative Service has the highest number of 36 secretaries. Of these, 6 secretaries are vacant. 3 out of 8 posts in the Engineering Service are vacant. Similarly, the only post of secretary in the Nepal Forest Service is vacant. The government had promoted three joint secretaries to secretaries in Mashinger last year. The promotions have been stopped since then.

Joint secretaries awaiting promotion say they have been treated unfairly. Even though the posts are vacant, some senior joint secretaries are going on retirement without being promoted to secretary. One of the senior joint secretaries said that the civil service's 'career system' has been damaged by stopping promotions. 'Ever since I joined the civil service as a branch officer, employees have a kind of hope, belief and calculation that I will reach this position,' he said. 'This has happened because of the promotion system in the civil service.' However, the government has done injustice by stopping promotions when I reach a higher position based on both efficiency and seniority.'

Section 19(2)(e) of the Civil Service Act provides that a potential candidate must be recommended within 15 days of the date of any vacancy in a special category and the vacant position must be filled within 15 days of the date of recommendation. Of the vacant posts of a special category secretary or similar, 20 percent are promoted on the basis of seniority and 80 percent on the basis of performance evaluation. After the government informs the number of vacant secretaries, the Public Service Commission allocates the percentage of promotions based on seniority and efficiency.

However, the Public Service Commission has not been informed of the vacant secretaries for the last 6 months. Under the chairmanship of the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, a recommendation committee consisting of a member of the Commission, the Chief Secretary, a subject expert member nominated by the Public Service Commission and the Secretary of the Ministry of General Administration recommends the names of eligible candidates for promotion to the government. There is a legal provision that the committee recommends three times the number of vacant posts to the government and out of them, the government promotes the candidates deemed suitable based on seniority and efficiency.

Hemraj Aryal, spokesperson for the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, says that the organizational structure of all ministries and agencies and the necessary posts are being studied. He said that since the decision to have only one secretary in the ministry and to reduce the number of ministries has been implemented, the post of secretary is also in the process of being reviewed.

The government does not seem to be able to give work to the current secretaries. Six secretaries have been placed in an additional group in the Prime Minister's Office. Although it was said that one secretary would be kept in the ministry, an additional secretary has been given the responsibility of looking after the drinking water sector in the Ministry of Infrastructure until another arrangement is made.

All ministries have been organized and managed with the aim of reducing the size of the personnel administration and making it more efficient. Most ministries have completed the survey and sent it to the Prime Minister's Office. A committee formed under the leadership of Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office Kiran Raj Sharma is studying the report on the organization and staff structure of the ministries.

Spokesperson Aryal said that the goal is to complete the organization and management survey within the second half of this fiscal. The number of federal ministries has been reduced from 22 to 18. Similarly, there were 2/2 secretaries in the ministries of Finance, Education and Sports, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Health and Population, Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Agriculture, Forest and Environment. Some of these ministries have also been restructured. The newly formed Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has not been sent a secretary.