Two government secretaries have resigned simultaneously, while some other secretaries have indicated that they are preparing to step down.
Kamal Prasad Pokharel, secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communication, and Baburam Adhikari, secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, have resigned from their posts. Their resignations have been approved by the government.
Generally, high-ranking (special class) officials submit their resignations a few days before the end of their service period. Secretary Adhikari's resignation is believed to have followed this conventional practice, as he was due to retire on August 20.
On the other hand, Secretary Pokharel resigned with 14 months of his service period still remaining. Due to the 58-year age limit, he was supposed to remain in service until September 8, 2027.
He has not disclosed specific reasons for his early resignation. According to sources at the Ministry of Information and Communication, he had mentioned “not feeling particularly well” when submitting his resignation and informed the minister over the phone that he would not be coming to the office.
Having worked for a long time at the Ministry of Education, Pokharel later served as the chief secretary of Sudur Paschim province and as the chief statistician at the National Statistics Office after becoming secretary.
Although he was transferred to the Ministry of Information and Communication on July 30, he was present at the ministry for only three days, according to sources at the ministry.
Dissatisfaction among civil servants appears to have been growing in recent days. In the month of Ashadh (mid-June to mid-July) alone, 208 employees, including 8 joint-secretary level officials, resigned. However, special-class officials with a long service period had not resigned until now.
Some employees claim that dissatisfaction among certain special-class officials has grown due to the appointment of the chief secretary, government transfers, and the government’s working style.
One secretary who was recently transferred also said that they are preparing to resign and have already informed some government ministers.
Since the current government took office, the number of ministries has been reduced from 22 to 18. Work is also underway to restructure and in some cases dissolve other offices and departments. However, decisions aimed at encouraging serving employees have also been made.
The government has decided to increase civil servants’ salaries by 21 percent. The tax bracket has also been expanded so that employees at almost all levels are exempt from income tax. A system of paying salaries twice a month has been introduced, and a two-day weekend has also been implemented.
Despite these expanded benefits, the number of employees resigning ahead of time has been growing before the opening of voluntary resignation windows or the announcement of other packages.
This is primarily attributed to ongoing discussions surrounding the government's rumored new Civil Service Act, which is expected to set retirement conditions by introducing a 30-year service period or a 55-year age limit. The current mandatory retirement age is 58, while no maximum service period has been specified.
Employees believe that if this provision is implemented, it will particularly disadvantage those who have served for more than 30 years and those who joined the civil service before 1992.
"There seems to be a perception among employees that once the new act comes into effect, pension calculations for employees with more than 30 years of service might cap the recognized service at a maximum of 30 years," said a joint secretary.
According to him, if someone has served for 37 years, resigning now grants them a pension based on the full 37 years. However, rumors that the new law will only account for 30 years have fueled fears of losing 7 years' worth of service benefits (nearly 14 percent), the joint secretary said.
Similarly, for employees who joined before 19992 (prior to the enactment of the current Civil Service Act), pensions are currently calculated based on 60 years even if they retire at 58. There is concern that under the new law, pensions could instead be calculated based only on the age of 58 or 55.
