Kathmandu, October 9
Seven employees of the Federal Parliament Secretariat have resigned amid concerns over a proposed amendment to the Civil Service Act that would make employees eligible for compulsory retirement after completing 30 years of service or reaching the age of 55.
The government is preparing to introduce an ordinance to amend the civil service law, prompting employees of the Parliament Secretariat to resign as well.
According to a source at the Secretariat, seven employees have resigned since October 2.
Those who have submitted their resignations include technical officers Sudarshan Gautam and Naresh Shrestha, printing officer Rajendra Lamichhane, non-gazetted first-class officer Dipendra KC, section officer Ganesh Simkhada, and office assistants Laxmi Giri and Chirikaji Maharjan.
Gautam, a technical officer, had worked at the Parliament Secretariat for 34 years. Although he had another six years and two months before reaching the retirement age under the existing law, he decided to resign following the proposed changes.
“I still had some time left. When the 55–30 provision came up in the civil service bill, I thought it would be better to resign,” he said.
The government has already registered a federal civil service bill in Parliament that proposes extending the retirement provisions to parliamentary service employees. Under the proposal, employees would be compulsorily retired after completing 30 years of service or reaching the age of 55.
However, with the parliamentary session prorogued, speculation has grown among civil servants that the government may introduce the legislation through an ordinance.
Parliamentary service employees are currently governed by a separate law enacted in 2007. Employees at the Secretariat have expressed concern that the proposed federal civil service legislation would bring them under the same retirement provisions.
One employee said they had resigned because the proposed changes would undermine employee rights and alter the terms and conditions under which they had entered service.
“Who is the permanent government?” the employee asked, raising concerns about the security and continuity of public service employment.
The draft federal civil service bill proposes a one-time transitional provision allowing employees to retire at the age of 58. After this transitional arrangement, the mandatory retirement age would be set at 60, according to the draft legislation.
