After it came out that the provisions of the Federal Civil Service Bill, which was unanimously passed by the State Order and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives, there has been a wave in the Parliament.

Although it was passed by the parliamentary committee with the provision that a two-year period should be kept for the next appointment after retirement, it took the form of controversy when it was passed by the House of Representatives. This has raised the question - is the government always trying to please high-ranking government officials to enjoy its benefits and facilities and with their help to eradicate political corruption? 

Bureaucracy or Rashtrasevakatantra

Since ancient times, there used to be two wheels of state management and operation - ruler, king or chief. Whose hand was the scepter. The other was an assistant, administrator, minister or advisor. They used to be involved in the machinery of obeying the government all the way down.

The king used to give verbal decisions and their implementation would happen soon after. Later a separate body was developed to administer justice. Even in Nepal, the dynastic governance system based on this has been running since the historical period. No such permanent administrative mechanism was developed for the running of the state until the Shah dynasty and Rana rule. Which could help the ruler in good governance. In the Rana period system, there was even more system of Pajni. Government service was very temporary.

After the formation of the new government on February 7, 2007, the ministers other than the prime minister had neither a place to live nor a place to work, not even an office assistant. In such a situation, some ministers sat where and some ministers sat where. There was also a problem with tables and chairs. Prime Minister Rana resigned and left Singhdarbar and moved to Lakshmi Niwas Maharajganj. After the

, Singha Darbar, which was earlier the residence of the Prime Minister, became the headquarters of the government of Shri 5. Which is still the headquarters of the Government of Nepal. The proof of this is the letter taken by the Prime Minister after Mohan Shamsher, Matrik Prasad Koirala, to provide the list of table-chair items to the Government of India.

Appointment to constitutional bodies

In constitutional bodies, the Public Service Commission and the Election Commission were two bodies in the constitution of 2015. The Election Commission was not provided for in the 2019 Constitution. A Public Service Commission provision was made whereby fifty percent of the posts were reserved for government employees. There was also a provision of 'cooling off period' for five years.

The provision of the Election Commission was again added to this constitution from the first amendment in 2023. Commission for Prevention of Abuse of Authority was also added by the second amendment of 2032. In this way, the possibility of appointment to constitutional bodies increased. Secretaries began to be candidates for these positions and were given opportunities. But during the Panchayat period, the post of Achaladheesh of 14 zones was equally attractive. It also had the appointment of former secretaries.

But during the Panchayat period, the candidates for these posts had to be loyal, dedicated and honest to the Panchayat system. For appointment to the post, the ex-employee had to choose between the pension and the salary of the new appointment. Such a provision was placed in the Act 2029 on Salaries and Benefits of Constitutional Officers.

It was withdrawn from the Act of 2049. Which took as a provision that officials appointed in constitutional bodies after 2049 can get double benefits. In support of which the Supreme Court did not consider it illegal to take both the facilities and till today the officials of the constitutional bodies are taking this facility, which is very unethical. 

The provision of not being able to get double benefits for appointments in all constitutional bodies was a strong obstacle, the other benefits of those officials were also not attractive compared to the benefits of the secretary. Ex: The secretary used to get a car. While there was a provision to provide one vehicle for two officers of the Constitutional Commission. Around 2055/56, the provision of separate vehicles for each official was placed in the Act on Salary and Benefits of Constitutional Officials.

In this context, a question easily arises, did the 5-year cooling period, pension and new salary scale for appointment to the Public Service Commission during the Panchayat period indirectly encourage the bureaucracy to engage in national service with high morale without considering anyone's suggestion, fear or threat? The post up to secretary was the ultimate objective of the service for getting employees.

Also, the salary and benefits of the constitutional post did not attract the secretary much. Because the monthly salary of constitutional officers was only 5,600. There was provision for the increase in this Act itself. While the secretary's salary was 5,500. 5 thousand 900 or 6000 after adjusting the grades in 4 years. Due to this, the salary of the official was slightly lower than that of the secretary.

Why was the provision to choose one of the dual benefits from the 2029 Act on the benefits of officials removed from the 2049 Act? Was this provision of the old Act possible in the new Act without the approval of the higher ranking officer? I think it is natural that the newly elected MPs and inexperienced ministers should not focus on this complicated provision.

Because of the lack of this provision, it may be beyond his imagination that the pensioner can get double benefits. But it cannot be imagined that this provision was deliberately not removed by the senior staff. Now that the 'cooling off period' debate is going on, it must be said that the removal of this provision exposes the mood of our employees at the forefront of the Secretary and Chief Secretaries.

To minimize political corruption, a 'cooling off period' must be kept. A provision should also be made in the Act on Salary and Benefits of Constitutional Officers to prevent them from taking double benefits. Here I quote a saying - "Republics are destroyed by comfort and monarchies are destroyed by poverty."