The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has won 182 seats in the elections held after the Gen-G rebellion. On the basis of this, Balendra Shah became the Prime Minister on Friday. Even though new characters have come to the parliament, the structure and working style of the bureaucracy, which is called the permanent power, remains the same. Disorder and inconsistency are prevalent. From the secretary to the officer, there is a bossy style. Future-oriented politics prevails. There is a practice of depriving those who are not close to the party from opportunities. There is a huge gap between the employees and the expectations of the people. However, the RSSW led government has moved forward in the process of implementing its contract and pledge.

There are many MPs in the RSSW. They are also new to the parliamentary process and practice. Since expectations are high, the people look for results, not excuses. The bureaucracy needs to be reformed to work as expected.

Employee-politician clash

Even Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who was praised for holding peaceful elections, complained that she did not get the expected support from the employees. She blamed the secretaries for not getting government work done, saying that the secretaries were making fun of her. She said that the secretaries have a tendency to put forward various options if they have their own interests, but to block them if it is the country's interest, saying that no, not at all. Similarly, she had also made public that an IGP had reprimanded her while speaking. This is a serious matter.

After the Prime Minister's statement, former employees have expressed their sadness on social media that the government has received praise only because the employees were responsible for holding peaceful elections, expressing their sadness at such a statement from the Prime Minister, who had experience in the judicial service. In the past, leaders of various parties used to blame employees when they could not do their job. Similarly, the fact that employees were belittled, abused, and sometimes beaten up even at the local level has become public shows that there is a conflict between employees and people's representatives.

Recently, the Chief Justice had said that setting fire to the court was not an expression of the anger of the service recipients towards us, and that people's expectations should be addressed by understanding it. Therefore, leaders and employees have an equal hand in the development or deterioration of the country.

Similarly, what does the current government do with the party trade union of employees? The question is. In the book 'Suneko Shashan Dekeko Shashan' written by administrative expert Umesh Prasad Mainali, it is stated that the strike of low-wage employees in Nepal in 2009 or the strikes of 047 and 048 were all carried out according to party-based strategies. It is also said that trade unions have brought distortions. However, it has been written that Nepal is a party to ILO Conventions 87 and 98, so it would be an obstacle to immediately abolishing party-based trade unions. It is said that Subba is planning to transfer the deputy secretary. Therefore, if party-based trade unions are to be abolished, it seems necessary for the government to pay careful attention to this matter. 

How to reform? 

To reform the bureaucracy in Nepal, it seems that important laws such as the Federal Civil Service Act and the Police Act should be brought as soon as possible. Currently, the Police Act, 2012 and the Civil Service Act, 2049 are being practiced. In addition, the Federal Civil Service Bill, which was about to be passed late due to the Gen-G rebellion, could not be passed, but now it seems necessary to move forward with the bill in a new way. 

If the old parties brought the bill to satisfy the pressure of the party trade unions and the interests of their close associates, now the bill should be brought again from a new vein to make the employees accountable. Similarly, by keeping the path to the post of Deputy Secretary and Joint Secretary through open competition, newcomers should not be prevented from entering the service. In addition, it can be expected that the behavior of employees will improve if the arrangements for punishment and rewards are now made based on the evaluation of the service recipients.

It is necessary to implement the reports prepared at different times to comprehensively improve the professionalism, structure and working style of public administration. Similarly, the 'Standards for Making Public Expenditure Economic and Effective-2081' should be strictly followed. The report prepared by the High-Level Economic Advisory Commission formed last year under the leadership of the current Finance Minister Rameshwor Khanal also contains references to administrative reform.

Similarly, under administrative reform, a secretary should not be transferred more than once during his/her tenure, a secretary posted in a federal ministry should not be transferred before completing two years, no employee should be transferred between ministries before completing a minimum of five years in a ministry to increase ministry-level efficiency, a person should have completed a two-year term in a provincial government ministry to be promoted to the post of secretary of the federal government, all officials of the same level of government should be provided with informative text materials and training on the need for government agencies to be vigilant in preventing money laundering and informing citizens. The report should be implemented.

In fact, eight commissions have been formed since 2009 in the name of administrative reform, but the suggestions are not being strictly implemented. In Nepal, the Administrative Reorganization Committee (2009), the Administrative Reorganization Planning Commission (2013), the Administration Reform Commission (2025), the Administration Reform Commission (2032), the Administration Reform Commission (2048), the 25-Year Master Plan Study Council of Public Administration (2055), the Corruption Control Suggestion Committee (2056), the Administration Restructuring Commission (2065) and the Administration Reform Suggestion Committee (2070 and 2074) have been formed. The committee formed under the coordination of the then Chairman of the Administrative Court, Kashiraj Dahal, had recommended limiting the number of ministries to 15, and making performance agreements with objective indicators to make employees responsible and accountable at all levels. 

Similarly, after 2074, KP Oli formed the Public Expenditure Review Commission under the leadership of Dilliraj Khanal, but did not implement the report of the commission prepared by his own government. Khanal is known to have said that if it had been implemented, resources of around one trillion rupees would have been saved. Similarly, the report of the High-Level Salary and Benefits Commission formed on Bhadra 6, 2079 under the leadership of Leelamani Paudyal had suggested keeping 35,000 employees in the union, increasing the minimum salary of lower-level employees to 35,000 and the salary of the Chief Secretary to 122,500. In addition, it suggested adjusting the salary and dignity of 19 posts and determining the minimum wage of workers. Options for reducing the burden on the state through pension and evaluating the work descriptions of employees were also included.