NEPAL
The biggest shake-up of the Public Service in Nepal’s history is officially over, but complaints from officers shuttled around the country and into different areas of work continue to flood in.
The process involves the transition of the country’s civil administration from a centralised bureaucracy based in the capital, Kathmandu, to a federal system with three distinct levels of government: Federal, Provincial and Local.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration said the Ministry was currently going through the complaints registered by more than 10,000 PS employees.
“The adjustment process has become a challenging affair,” the spokesperson said.
“Nonetheless, thousands of Civil Servants have already reported to their designated offices.”
The spokesperson admitted that “hundreds” had failed to report for duty and thousands more were unhappy with the new arrangements, which often involved officers moving from the comforts of the capital to remote areas.
“Some have said they are not interested to work at Local or Provincial levels, while others have listed family matters and health issues,” the spokesman said.
“There are some Civil Servants who feel their career will hit a roadblock if they are posted to Local and Provincial offices.”
A public notice published by the Ministry lists significant numbers of vacancies at the local level and urges “all the Local units to provide the number of vacant posts to the Ministry”.
Commenting on reports that more than 500 officers had simply refused to turn up for work at their new posts, Joint Secretary at the Home Ministry, Kedar Sharma said they would be dealt with.
Kathmandu, 1 May 2019
