The government has abolished the positions of personal secretaries for the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, the vice-chairperson of the National Assembly, chairpersons of parliamentary committees, and lawmakers.
The government has scrapped these facilities by amending the schedule related to the facilities provided to office-bearers and members of Parliament in the Act Relating to Remuneration and Facilities of Federal Parliament Office-Bearers and Members.
The new amendment has abolished the facility of a personal secretary, equivalent to a second-class gazetted officer, for the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, vice-chairperson of the National Assembly, leader of the opposition in the House of Representatives, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, leader and chief whip of the ruling party, chief whip of the opposition, chief whip of the ruling party, committee chairpersons, chief whips of parties, whips of the ruling party, and whips of the opposition.
Since the House of Representatives is currently dissolved, the government's new decision will only affect Deputy Speaker Indira Rana Magar. However, the computer operator, two office assistants, and two drivers she receives will remain unchanged.
In the National Assembly, the government's new decision has removed the personal secretaries of 58 lawmakers. This includes the personal secretary of National Assembly Vice-chairperson Bimala Ghimire. Lawmakers used to receive personal secretaries equivalent to officers. Along with the National Assembly vice-chairperson, four chairpersons of parliamentary committees, party leaders in the National Assembly, chief whips, and whips have also lost personal secretaries equivalent to under-secretaries.
The government had decided on September 21 to abolish the facility of personal secretaries without amending the law. Based on that decision, the government amended the schedule of the act and finally implemented it on October 19.
The secretariat facilities for the speaker of the Federal Parliament, chairperson of the National Assembly, and others remain unchanged.
According to sources in the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Deputy Speaker Rana Magar and National Assembly Vice-chairperson Ghimire have expressed dissatisfaction with the government's latest amendment. In a meeting of the Parliament Secretariat's management committee, both raised the question of whether their facilities were being taken away simply because they are women. "The deputy speaker even accused the Parliament Secretariat of corresponding to remove the personal secretaries of two women," an official told Setopati. "She questioned whether the deputy speaker would now have to stand in line for a hospital ticket too. The deputy speaker raised questions about the justification of providing facilities to ministers but not to the deputy speaker."
After the deputy speaker protested, Speaker Devraj Ghimire said that he would talk to Prime Minister Sushila Karki about the decision.
