At a time when the government is struggling to adjust civil servants in the provinces and the local level—a crucial part of creating a well-functioning federalism—Indian civil service experts have advised Nepali officials not to hinder the career growth of the employees mobilised.

At a workshop organised by India’s Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on Wednesday, Prof KK Reddy and Prof C Shila Reddy, among others, shared India’s experience and challenges in staff management in the federal set-up with Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Lal Babu Pandit and high-level Nepali officials.

Their key advice on staff deployment from the federal agencies to sub-national administrations was ensuring equal career growth opportunity everywhere, said a Nepali official.

In the Indian model of federalism, experts found no career hurdle for the civil servants working in the provinces.

The employees appointed by the central government who, in their career journey, end up working for provincial or local governments get the same opportunity in promotion and career development as their counterparts working in federal agencies, the experts said, suggesting that Nepal emulate a similar model.

The Indian experts also cited the removal of more than 100 employees by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath last year for their poor performance. They also shared the record of court verdicts in cases filed by employees who were punished by the government, where only 10 percent of the court rulings were in favour of the employees.

Bureaucracy in India is largely free from political intervention as there are no trade unions. India’s laws bar government employees, except for low ranking physical labourers, from forming unions.

Nepali officials said the Indian experts were amazed to learn that even officer-level employees in Nepal were members of trade union.

Minister Pandit leads a team of government officials to India to learn about the neighbour’s federal administration structure, appointment, transfer and the promotion process.