KATHMANDU, June 24: Civil servants have started resigning from government service after the government moved forward with a Federal Civil Service Act that would require mandatory retirement for employees who reach 55 years of age or complete 30 years of service.
According to Sudan Shrestha, spokesperson for the National Book Archive (Nijamati Kitabkhana), 50 civil servants resigned between June 15 and June 21. The resignations include officials at the joint secretary level. Resignations of five joint secretaries have already been approved, while the resignation of another joint secretary is yet to receive approval.
Sources at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development said the resignation of Prabhat Jha, deputy director general at the Department of Roads, has not been approved. The resignations of Joint Secretaries Raju Sapkota and Uddhav Ghimire of the Ministry of Forests have already been accepted. The resignations of three joint secretaries currently serving at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, previously associated with the Ministry of Water Supply, have also been approved.
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According to the Kitabkhana, those resigning include under-secretaries, section officers and non gazetted officers. Employees are reportedly leaving service because the draft Federal Civil Service Act proposes limiting pension eligibility to 30 years of service. Many long serving employees are resigning to avoid any reduction in pension benefits.
The draft law proposes that employees subject to mandatory retirement would be retired upon completing 30 years of service, regardless of whether they have reached the current retirement age threshold.
Sources said employees whose resignations have been approved have already begun pension processing procedures. Shrestha said his office is informed only about approved resignations and is not provided with reasons behind them.
"We are only notified that a resignation has been approved. Information on why an employee resigned is not sent to us," he said.
Sources added that some employees resigned out of dissatisfaction with transfer decisions. The issue appears particularly common among lower level staff. Employees who had long been stationed in Kathmandu and other accessible areas have expressed dissatisfaction after being transferred to Sudurpashchim Province and remote Himalayan districts.
Following the change in government, some civil servants have also opted to remain on extended leave.
The draft Federal Civil Service Act, which has already received approval from the Ministry of Finance, is currently under review at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Once the Law Ministry gives its consent, the draft will be forwarded to the Public Service Commission and then to the Cabinet for final approval.
Sources claim the government is preparing to introduce the Federal Civil Service Act through an ordinance.
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