The Civil Service Bill has been passed by the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives meeting held on Sunday passed the Civil Service Bill by a majority.
The bill, registered in the House of Representatives in February 2024, has been passed by the House after 15 months. The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House has included some new provisions in the bill after holding extensive discussions. Below are the key provisions:
1. Entry age for civil service: The maximum entry age for federal civil service has been set at 35 years for men and 39 years for women. The existing provision allows men to join the civil service until 35 and women until 40. The government had proposed lowering the age to 32 for men and 37 for women. Lawmakers set the entry age for women at 40, arguing women who enter at 40 might not complete the 20-year service period required for pension eligibility.
2. Retirement age: The retirement age for civil servants has been raised to 60 years, to be implemented in a phased manner. The government had proposed increasing the retirement age from 58 to 60 immediately. However, the bill stipulates that civil servants will retire at 58 in the year the bill is passed, at 59 in the second year, and at 60 from the third year onward. The committee concluded that this phased approach, as per the Public Service Commission’s suggestion, ensures new recruitments are not disrupted, as an immediate shift to 60 could halt retirements of civil servants and block new hires.
3. Abolition of open competition for joint secretary posts: Open competition for filling joint secretary (gazetted first class) positions has been discontinued. Currently, 10 percent of joint secretary posts are filled through open competition. Now, only under secretary (gazetted second class), officer (gazetted third class), and kharidar (non-gazetted assistant first class positions) will be filled through open competition. The bill includes provisions to fill 100 percent of kharidar posts and 60 percent of section officer posts through open competition (down from the government’s proposed 65 percent and the current 70 percent under the Civil Service Act). The existing 10 percent open competition for under secretary posts remains unchanged.
4. Creation of additional secretary post: The committee has introduced the post of additional secretary, positioned above joint secretary but below secretary, classified as a special class officer (13th level). To create this post, the number of secretary (gazetted 14th level) or joint secretary (gazetted first class) positions must be reduced. Lawmakers expect this to end the practice of having two secretaries in a single ministry.
Currently, the Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation; Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; and Ministry of Health and Population have two secretaries each. The committee also aims to have additional secretaries lead certain government departments. It argues that since senior joint secretaries don’t cooperate when junior joint secretaries head certain departments, additional secretaries should be given the responsibility of such departments.
5. Cooling-off period: A two-year cooling-off period has been mandated for civil servants who resign or retire, during which they cannot take diplomatic or constitutional appointments. Despite opposition from government secretaries, lawmakers on the committee strongly advocated for this measure to prevent potential collusion between ministers and secretaries.
6. Tenure of chief secretary and secretaries: The tenure of the government’s chief secretary has been reduced from 3 years to 2 years, and that of secretaries from 5 years to 4 years. However, these reduced tenures will not apply to the current chief secretary and secretaries.
7. Inter-province transfers: The bill allows transfer of civil servants at provincial and local levels between provinces after they complete 10 years of service. Such transfers can be made based on the agreement between the Offices of the Chief minister and Council of Ministers of the respective provinces.
8. Predictable transfers: To make transfers predictable, the committee has included a provision prohibiting the transfer of an employee for at least one year. Transfers must occur once annually as per a fixed schedule, and for specified periods. Additionally, geographical areas will be divided into four categories (A, B, C, D) to make transfers cyclical, and employees in category D must be transferred to category A offices. Lawmakers claim this will end the practice of employees not going to remote areas and curb arbitrary transfers by the government.
9. Reservation policy: The bill allows individuals to use reservation quotas once for gazetted posts and once for non-gazetted posts, as proposed by the government. However, if a reserved quota cannot be filled, the vacancy will be filled from the least represented group (e.g., if a Dalit quota remains unfilled, it may be filled from the Tharu or Muslim group with lower representation). However, no vacancy will be announced for that group the following year. Lawmakers claim this ensures the government can appoint desired employees in the same year, unlike the current practice where unfilled reserved posts are advertised again the next year or filled through open competition if no candidate is selected.
10. Limit on federal employees in provinces and local levels: Federal civil servants can be assigned to provincial and local levels for a maximum of 10 years. Lawmakers argue that provinces are expected to recruit their own employees through advertisements within 10 years, reducing the need to deploy federal staff. Currently, federal civil servants serve as chief administrative officers in local levels and as secretaries in provincial ministries.
11. Domestic tourism leave: The committee has made legal provisions for granting domestic tourism leave to civil servants, who are currently provided such facility through regulations. The government had proposed tourism leave, but the committee specified it as domestic tourism leave.
The committee has retained the right of civil servants to form trade unions despite widespread opposition and amendment proposals from lawmakers. The committee could not reach a decision on this matter.
All these provisions are included in the bill, which has been passed by the House of Representatives and will now be sent to the National Assembly.
The National Assembly must pass the bill within two months, after which the speaker will certify it. Upon authentication by the president, the bill will become law.
Government secretaries have been lobbying to pass the bill by July 16.
