Miscellaneous
Government staff protest against ‘unfair’ ordinance
Hundreds of civil servants took to the streets on Monday to protest the Civil Service Adjustment Ordinance tabled by the government in Parliament to adjust thousands of civil servants in local, provincial and central government agencies.Anil Giri
Hundreds of civil servants took to the streets on Monday to protest the Civil Service Adjustment Ordinance tabled by the government in Parliament to adjust thousands of civil servants in local, provincial and central government agencies.
The protest was called by Nepal Civil Servants Union affiliated to the opposition, Nepali Congress.
Civil servant organisations affiliated to both ruling and opposition parties have opposed some provisions in the ordinance that was tabled in Legislature Parliament amid protest from the civil servants. The agitating government employees have termed the ordinance unfair and discriminatory and demanded that the government ensure their career development and introduce a provision allowing a civil servant to seek transfer to local, provincial or federal government agencies through amendments.
The ordinance do not allow the transfer of civil servants working at local and provincial government offices to federal agencies.
It states that civil servants should report to their assigned areas of duty within 21 days of receiving transfer notice. The ordinance warns that failure to comply with transfer notice could lead to termination.
According to Article 114 of the constitution, both the Upper House and the Lower House should endorse the ordinance within two months of the commencement of Parliament session.
The ordinance also offers increment and promotion to those civil servants interested to work in local and provincial government agencies and those who have served in the same position for at least five years. The numbers of civil servants is estimated to rise from the current 89,000 to 125,792 after staff adjustment and appointment process.
The main opposition, Nepali Congress, has denounced the ordinance, calling it an attempt to restrict the career growth of civil servants. The KP Oli government is on a mission to wrest full control of the state machinery, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba said at a programme on Monday. After the civil servants, the government will try to control security agencies, as an authoritarian regime is wont to do, he said.