The failure of the political leadership was not the only reason for the Gen-G people's movement of 23 and 24 Bhadra; the country's permanent ruling bureaucracy was equally to blame.

The failure of the bureaucracy to deliver public services as expected, institutionalization of irregularities and corruption, lack of transparency and accountability in the working style of public officials, and extreme politicization of the bureaucracy were the factors that led to the Gen-G movement. The Gen-G people's movement, as a manifestation of the extreme frustration, anger, and dissatisfaction of the general public towards the delivery of public services, took an unexpected form and led to the ouster of Khadga Prasad Oli. However, the structure and working style of the country's bureaucracy remains the same. Reforms in the bureaucracy have also become a topic of debate in the post-Gen-G movement.

Firstly, feudal thinking prevails among most of the country's employees, they do not think that they are servants of the people. Employees do not understand that the source of the salaries and service facilities they receive from the state treasury is the taxes paid by the general public. As a result, a kind of undeclared 'class structure' seems to have been created in the delivery of public services. Employees consider themselves to represent the upper class and look down on service recipients.

Employees are not available in the office during office hours, and even if they are available, they spend the whole day completing services that are delivered in a moment. Sometimes they do not do the work by saying tomorrow, sometimes they intentionally harass with the expectation of a bribe. Many people do not like to enter government offices due to the extreme misuse of administrative discretion, not being service recipient-friendly, not respecting time discipline, and performing work only on the basis of source-force. If educated people like me who have obtained higher education in law have to face the wrath of the corrupt, lazy, and work-thief tendencies of civil servants, what is the fate of an ordinary service recipient?

There is a saying in service delivery that ‘services should reach around citizens, not citizens around services’. However, due to the erosion of economic discipline, morality, and ethics in the country’s employee mechanism, corruption, nepotism, favoritism, and abuse of authority have become institutionalized. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI) in 2024, Nepal ranks 107th globally with a score of 34 out of 100, which shows that Nepal is a country with widespread corruption. In this sense, corruption has become synonymous with the country's bureaucracy.

Therefore, it is necessary to take effective steps to increase the commitment to integrity in the political sector, take impartial action against bribery and corruption, and ensure a fair judicial process. For this, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority must be able to fulfill its 'mandate' as per the constitution with honesty and in a strong manner.

It is unfortunate that civil servants have forgotten their primary responsibility of providing public services and have participated in active politics. Government employees also come to the general conventions of political parties as representatives. Trade unions, which were originally allowed to be affiliated with employees, have been transformed into political arenas. The rights granted to employees are not in line with the established values ​​and norms of labor jurisprudence.

In fact, the right to trade union belongs to the working class and its unique aspect is collective bargaining with the owner. But since the people are the sovereign or the owner in the public service, it is not necessary for the employees to bargain collectively. Why bargain with the people? Since the right to strike, create pressure, and engage in collective bargaining like a trade union is not relevant for the employees, it is now necessary to rein in the right to open trade unions for political parties.

The selection process of employees in the country has not been based on scientific evaluation of qualifications, expertise, and hard work. Except for some services, to enter the civil service, one must have passed a general knowledge/I-Q test irrelevant to the field of work under the administrative aptitude subject, while such questions have no relation to the service delivery. How will knowing or not knowing the height of Mount Everest affect the service delivery of an administrative officer?

Therefore, the curriculum should be revised based on questions related to the field that the employee will have to perform in the future. There should be a provision for only candidates with the necessary educational qualifications in subjects related to the field of work. Some inconsistent provisions such as the current system where engineers who do not even know the 'P' of administration can get a job in general administration, but those who have studied law cannot take the revenue service exam, and those who have studied mathematics cannot take the audit exam, should be removed. The system where one can get a job without interruption for 58 years after passing the civil service exam should be reconsidered and arrangements should be made to test the qualifications in an updated manner. 

After the Public Service Commission opens the advertisement, some employees become 'teachers' in classes of institutes that conduct civil service exam preparation, while others become 'students'. Some employees prepare for their own exams even though they are present in the office. A large number of employees take leave at a time. It has become a tradition to stay in Kathmandu for a long time after arranging work. A study by the National Vigilance Center mentions complaints such as employees coming to the office and leaving early, being busy with the commission's exam even though they are in the office, and staying without taking leave. Since such wrong practices cause serious damage to public service delivery, necessary policy arrangements should be made in this regard to ensure that service recipients do not suffer.

Since the existing civil service law does not prohibit the same person from using the reservation facility repeatedly, an employee from a buyer to a secretary has the opportunity to become a crutch of reservation. This has created a situation where new people other than the beneficiaries of reservation are hindered from entering government services. In this regard, the ‘Study Report on the Impact of Reservation in Existing Government Services, 2079’ published by the National Inclusion Commission has also stated that the repeated use of the same after entering service under the reservation system has further weakened the merit system.

Similarly, the Supreme Court has already said that the achievement of reservation has been limited to the ‘creamy layer’ within each class. Therefore, arrangements should be made to keep people who have reached the highest class politically, economically or socially in the category that does not receive reservation. Similarly, clear arrangements should be made to provide the reservation system only once to the truly neglected class.

The internal control system of offices should be made tight. For this, the dominance of accounting professionals, middlemen, and party workers who dominate government offices should be weakened. It is necessary to make the transfer, promotion, and adjustment of employees objective, transparent, and effective. To move the civil service towards a 'meritocracy,' it is best to encourage lateral entry through open competition and reduce internal competition. Similarly, since running an office solely on the basis of an acting head of office and a permanent staff member seriously affects the services, facilities, and quality provided by the government, strict provisions should be made regarding the role of the acting head of office.