Our federal system is one with administrative autonomy. The constitution itself has recognized that local government has administrative autonomy. Article 285 of the Constitution stipulates that the Government of Nepal, the Provincial Council of Ministers and the Village/Municipal Executive may establish various government services in accordance with the law as required to conduct their administration.

In Article 302, there is a provision that the government of Nepal can adjust its employees to the provincial and local levels and adjust the service delivery arrangements according to the law. In accordance with this provision of the Constitution, according to the Staff Adjustment Act, 2075, staff has been adjusted from the union to the state and local levels. Management of local services is placed within the sole authority of local government (Schedule 8(5)). Section 84 (4) of the Local Government Operation Act, 2074 provides that the Government of Nepal shall appoint any authorized employee of the civil service to work until an administrative officer is appointed by the local service law. 

The above constitutional and legal arrangements have made it clear that the local government will have its own local service and the chief administrative officer will be organized by the local service. Government of Nepal will be able to use its services only until arrangements are made by local services. But the government has brought the Federal Civil Service Bill ignoring the clear provisions of the constitution and the issues that have been accepted by the federal laws before. If the bill is passed, the administrative autonomy provided by the constitution will be broken. 

After a long wait, the Federal Civil Service Bill has passed through Baneshwar (Federal Parliament) from Singha Darbar to the House of Representatives' State Order and Good Governance Committee for discussion. But the weekly discussion has not started yet. The provisions related to administrative federalism and jurisdiction of local government are the most complicated and far-reaching than other subjects of the bill. In particular, the issues proposed in Section 118 are now viewed as of great interest. An in-depth debate is needed on the proposal regarding the arrangement of administrative inter-relationships in paragraph 12 of the bill. In the said proposal, it is said that each province will have its own provincial civil service and one/one local service and it is arranged that the formation of both services, the determination of the service conditions and the operation will be subject to the standards set by this Act and according to the provincial and local laws respectively. Similarly, the provision of the chief administrative post of the state government (chief secretary) to the federal civil service has been put forward as a proposal. 

Sub-section (1) of section 118 states that the post of chief administrative officer of the local level shall be of local service. At a glance, this provision of the bill seems to embrace and respect the administrative autonomy of the local government, but sub-section (3) of the same section breaks it, where, regardless of what is written in sub-section (1), for 10 years after the commencement of this Act, the Government of Nepal shall maintain the federal civil service. It has been arranged that the employees of the administration service will be assigned to work as chief administrative officers.  Why was

kept for 10 years?  As stated in the

bill, if the chief administrative officer is appointed from the federal civil service for 10 years after the law is promulgated, the local governments will operate under the administrative control of the central government for 10 years as in the past. The federal ministry which introduced the bill has not been able to give a satisfactory answer and argument regarding the justification of 10 years. The Ministry argues that officers who have entered the local government through the State Public Service Commission will be eligible for chief administrative officers after 10 years. Only after that, a light-hearted comment is heard that it will be compensated by the local service itself. But this logic of the ministry has raised many questions.

Qualifications of local service personnel 

The federal ministry has given a message that the employees in the local service are not eligible to be administrative officers. Actually it is not based on logic and facts. Former District Development Committee, Municipal Officers have now reached the eighth, ninth and tenth levels. They are local service employees who have been adjusted in the local government according to the Staff Adjustment Act, 2075. According to the same Act, about 200 Deputy Secretaries of Education Services are Education Officers in municipalities. They are the people who have already performed as district education officers yesterday. Similarly, the employees who have been adjusted by the union have been promoted to the eighth and ninth levels according to the Local Service Act. 

Even now, around 500 qualified human resources have been prepared for chief administrative officers in local government. Fewer manpower may not be enough. These employees are experienced and skilled personnel from long-term local bodies and current local governments. Seeing experienced personnel who have run local bodies and governments for years as incompetent for chief administrative officers is just the narrow-mindedness of those who measure competence. Even now, in more than 250 local governments, they are performing the functions with the responsibility of Nimitt. Why should it not be made official if it is to be given but the qualification and capacity have been reached? Where it is convenient, it is sent from the center and where there is conflict and it is difficult to work, the Nimitta is given responsibility. The government is adopting the same style of action as it is said, "If it's a fish, put your hands inside, if it's a snake, put your hands outside". Likewise, the vision after 10 years is not clear.

After 10 years, where will the officers of the union go? 

753 officers who have worked at various levels (8th to 11th level) of the federal civil service for 10 years (the number of veterans remained the same) is there a place for the Nepal government to manage? The post of Chief Administrative Officer is approved for local government. At the local level, how can a large number of employees sent from the union be managed without posts after the local level employees come at once? At that time, there is a danger that the government will amend the Act itself to depute the chief administrative officer of the local government from the union for another 10/20 years under one pretext or the other. The local government will never be able to exercise administrative autonomy.

What to do next? 

The bill should not be accepted by the local governments as it is until the proper logic of keeping the provision for ten years and how the chief administrative officer is managed from the local service for the eleventh year. For this, sub-sections (3), (4) and (5) of the proposed section 118 should be amended by keeping the following provisions respectively. 

– (3) Notwithstanding anything written in sub-section (1), ten years from the commencement of this Act shall be considered as a transitional period by managing the following number of chief administrative officer positions from qualified officers of the federal civil service, state civil service and local service during the period mentioned in the schedule. will be mobilized.

 - (4) The Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers will issue a public notice and prepare a roster for those employees who are willing to be chief administrative officers as per sub-section (3).

– (5) The chief secretary of the province will assign the officers in the roster as per sub-section (4) to the local government only after giving them specialized training for a specified period. 

According to the mentioned legal arrangement, administrative federalism with administrative autonomy will be practiced in the local government in the constitution. It will implement the provision of sub-section (1) of the same section that the post of administrative officer of the local government will be of local service. In the same way, the union and state governments can manage the posts of administrative officers assigned to local governments in their respective areas of work. A sense of competition automatically develops among officers drawn from all three levels of service. Effectiveness will increase in the performance of local government. A more dual staff system and the issue of senior/junior will also minimize the widespread conflict in the local government staff system. 

Provision of specialized training  

Just as there is a mandatory requirement to undergo specialized training before being appointed as a Chief District Officer (CDO), at least 35 days of specialized training must be given in the local government before being appointed as a Chief Administrative Officer. This position looks for a versatile, creative, experienced and coordinated personality. Currently, the local government has not been able to perform effective functions due to the lack of efficiency and work experience when appointing officers who have recently passed the Public Service Commission examination. 

Finally, the three levels of government within our federal system operate according to the principles of cooperation, coordination and coexistence. For the effective implementation of the three dimensions of federalism, local governments should be autonomous to use the single and common powers given by the Schedule of the Constitution. There is a need for a broad debate on the proposed federal civil service bill that violates the administrative autonomy of the state and local levels.