Kewal Prasad Bhandari
Former Secretary
Government of Nepal
Government has not been able to look at civil administration with human sensitivity: Former Secretary Bhandari
Kathmandu Former Secretary of the Government of Nepal, Kewal Prasad Bhandari, has said that the bureaucracy is in a crisis of confusion, discouragement and career development as the Federal Civil Service Act has not been passed even after almost a decade of the implementation of federalism.
In an interview with Nepal News Bank, he said that the federal system of governance cannot provide the expected services without legal uncertainty, effective training and social security. According to Bhandari, the morale of the employees has been weakened as the work of restructuring the bureaucracy as per the federal structure has been stalled.
He said that according to the new structure to work in the three tiers of government, the career development, promotion and working system of the employees have not been made timely. He said that the employees need clarity about their service life. “The employees need certainty about how long they will work where, when they will be promoted, what benefits they will get and what the future holds,” he said.
He said that the contradictory debate on the retirement age, service period and transfer has created an atmosphere of insecurity and fear among the employees. Bhandari said that while the draft of the Federal Civil Service Act has proposed 60 years of retirement age, on the other hand, there is talk of retiring at 55 years, which has created more confusion among the employees. This may be the reason why some employees may have left the service voluntarily, he said.
He said that although it was expected that there would be extensive improvement in the bureaucracy after the formation of the majority government, that expectation has not been fulfilled. “We believed that service delivery would be effective after the formation of a two-thirds majority government, a new path would be opened in the bureaucratic administration, but it was not seen,” he said.
Former secretary Bhandari said that the tendency to see the bureaucracy as less important than politics has also reduced the morale of the employees. According to him, the role of both is equally important in the public service as the government makes policies and the bureaucrats implement them. He said that although the government’s decision to limit the number of ministries from 21 to 18 is a matter of the government’s authority, it will affect the higher level hierarchy. He said that the reduction in the number of ministries will limit the opportunities for the posts of secretary, joint secretary and under-secretary, which will affect the career development. However, he clarified that due to the reduction of the ministry, there will be no big problem in the day-to-day work. Bhandari said that the formation of a high-level administrative restructuring commission to prepare the bureaucracy in line with the new governance system after the implementation of federalism was a big weakness.
According to him, although the senior officials of Singha Durbar understand the federal system, the employees serving in the remote areas have not been adequately trained.
He said that some positive reforms have been incorporated in the Federal Civil Service Bill, which is being tabled in the parliament. He said that the bill has new provisions such as clarifying the objectives of the civil service, clustering in the reservation system, provision of leadership evaluation, formation of Civil Service Board and monthly performance evaluation of employees above the rank and file of officers.
However, he believes that this alone will not make the federal staff administration efficient. He suggested that the age of entry into the service should be reconsidered, systematic training should be given by recruiting employees at an early age, and compulsory training should be resumed for the assistant level employees. “New laws alone cannot transform the bureaucracy unless we reform health, social security, child care and economic and non-economic benefits,” he said.
Bhandari said that there is still an important opportunity for the incumbent government to make citizen-oriented, modern and accountable bureaucracy by further revising the Federal Civil Service Act. Bhandari said although the proposed Federal Civil Service Act incorporates the issues of promotion, career development and social security, more reforms are needed to boost the real motivation of the civil servants.
He said that the state cannot achieve the expected service delivery by limiting the employees only to salary and allowances. Talking about the provisions of the Federal Civil Service Act, Bhandari said that the promotion system seems to have been carried out without a scientific analysis based on statistics.
Stating that there is a provision of seven years to move from one level to another level, it takes up to 14 years to reach the next level, he said that the promotion system should be reconsidered by analyzing the available human resources, age and service period.
“Promotion is related to the motivation of the employees,” he said, “But as the structure of the ministries and departments shrinks, the posts will decrease and retirement will also occur, so its impact may not be seen as expected.” “
Bhandari accused the government of failing to look at the civil administration with human sensitivity. According to him, it is thought that the employees will work after being paid, while the state should give priority to the career development of the employees, social security, education and health of the family and life after retirement.
He said that there is a need to make the life of the employees who retire at the age of 60 after serving for more than 30 years to secure their lives. “It is not easy to start a new job after retirement. Therefore, the state should ensure the basis of livelihood,” he said.
Transfer and training system needs to be improved
Former Secretary Bhandari stressed on the need to make the employee transfer system scientific. He said that if the disparity of opportunity among the employees working in the mountain, Tarai and the capital is not removed, it will affect the efficiency.
He also pointed out the need to provide regular training, study and fellowship opportunities to the employees. “You can’t work only after completing your university studies and joining the service,” he said, adding that the government should provide opportunities to study in the country and abroad for the necessary skills, but now such programs are on the decline.
Suggestions to use the savings of the Provident Fund for social security
Bhandari said that the huge savings in the Employees Provident Fund and Citizen Investment Fund can be used effectively for the social security of the employees. He said that although these institutions could play a greater role in the education, health and housing sectors of the families of the employees, army and police, the work has not been done accordingly.
He said that the state should bring a special program in this regard as the provision of one’s own accommodation is an important issue for the citizens in the socio-cultural context of Nepal.
Demand for equal opportunities for employees working in remote areas
Bhandari said that discrimination on the basis of access to promotion and opportunity distribution should be ended. He said that the bureaucracy administration will not be effective if the employees working in remote areas are promoted quickly because they are close to the leadership and the employees working in remote areas are left behind.
According to him, although the Federal Civil Service Act has incorporated the provisions of health insurance, social security and facilities, the morale and service delivery of the civil service will be improved only if they are implemented in an impartial and equal manner.
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