Temporary staffers employed by local units will have to pass an exam conducted by the Public Service Commission (PSC) to continue their jobs, according to a provision of the Bill on Operation of the Local Government endorsed by the Parliamentary Development Committee on Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD), a total of 17,102 people were recruited by the district development committees, municipalities and village development committees, who have now become part of new local structure. Of them, 11,000 are permanent and the remaining 6,102 are temporary employees.

As per the Bill,  permanent staffers will automatically become part of their concerned local units. The temporary ones, on the other hand, will have to pass the PSC test to keep their jobs.

Rabindra Adhikari, chairperson of the parliamentary committee, said those who fail the test will be relieved of their jobs.

Whether any facilities should be provided to the temporary employees who fail the exam will be decided by the local units themselves, according Shivaji Yadav, another lawmaker representing the parliamentary committee.

The local unit employees assigned from the centre are being paid by the central government and those appointed by the local bodies are being paid by the local government themselves.

Once they become the part of new local bureaucracy, they will get the salary and benefit through local consolidated fund.

As per the Bill, local units can recruit staffers on contract basis, provided there is a need for expertise service in certain sectors. Likewise, the services of driver, office assistant (peon) and cleaning staffs should be taken only through contracts.

“Currently, even the staffers with position higher than section offers have been employed under contracts,” said Rudra Singh Tamang, spokesperson of MoFALD.