National
Ministry cracks down on ‘absent’ civil staff
The ministry will not allow government staff not reporting to work at their assigned provincial offices to mark attendance at their original offices starting Monday.The ministry will not allow government staff not reporting to work at their assigned provincial offices to mark attendance at their original offices starting Monday.
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) will also stop salaries and allowances of civil staff that refuses to report to work in the provinces, ministry officials said.
The government has deployed 1,505 government staff, including 1,090 from the administrative services and others representing judicial, accounting and foreign affairs services to the provinces, the ministry said.
Around 77 to 80 percent of staff deployed in the provinces from the administrative services has reported to respective destinations, the ministry said. If staff employed by the ministries does not report to assigned provincial offices, the Prime Minister’s Office will deal with them. Similiarly, the respective ministries will deal with lower level staff not reporting to assigned provincial offices.
Provincial governments have complained about government staff shortage that has affected routine work.
Ministry Secretary Shankar Prasad Koirala said the ministry has instructed government offices not to mark attendance at the original office of the civil staff deployed to the province from Sunday.
“Office chiefs who fail to bar staff deployed to the provinces from registering attendance will face punitive action,” said Koirala.
Ministry officials attribute the delay in staff reporting to the provinces to government officials for not handing transfer letters to the deployed staff.
Ministry officials expect all deployed staff to report to their provincial offices within a few days. Their optimism stems from staff fearing attendance ban at original office and salary loss.
MoFAGA Spokesperson Shivaram Neupane said most of the staff deployed to provinces, except 6 and 7, have reached their destinations.
“Low interest of civil staff to go the province 6 and 7 could be because they are relatively remote areas compared to the headquarters of other provinces,” said Neupane.
Provincial chief ministers last Wednesday complained to Prime Minister Oli about the reluctance of the civil staff to report for work in the provinces. Even those deployed to the provinces do not co-operate with the political leaders, they told him.
The move to provincial headquarters is temporary for civil staff. This is because the central government is yet to hand over offices and programmes to the provinces.
After the handover, the provincial offices would require more government staff.
The government has started Organisation and Management (O&M) survey of the government offices in three layers of the governance. The survey will first determine the number of offices and staff required for central, provincial and the local government offices. After the completion of the survey, the government will start permanent adjustment of the civil staff in three layers of the governance.