Many provincial and local governments have complained that they have not been able to function properly due to shortage of staff. The federal government has been saying it will resolve the problem by deploying its staff to the sub-national governments, but many employees do not want to get transferred to the provincial or local level. In some cases, local governments have rejected staff sent by the central government stating they do not need them and have started hiring staff on their own to bridge the human resource gap. Jagdishor Panday of The Himalayan Times met Umesh Mainali, chairman of the Public Service Commission, the authorised body that hires civil servants for the government, to discuss these issues. Excerpts:

The federal government has been trying to adjust its staff in provincial and local governments for quite some time now. Yet the process has not been completed. Why?

The process of adjusting civil servants in the three tiers of government is lingering at the moment. The enforcement of the Employee Adjustment Act has provided legal ground for the federal government to deploy its staff in the two other tiers of government. Since then, organisation and management (O&M) survey has been conducted to ascertain the number of bodies and employees required in federal, provincial and local governments.

The report of the O&M survey came out quite late. This is one of the reasons for delay in adjustment of civil servants in the three tiers of government. Now we have noticed that Employee Adjustment Act and Regulation only cannot resolve all these issues. We need to revise the Federal Civil Service Act. Because of these problems, the minister for federal affairs and general administration has said the staff adjustment process in the three tiers of government will conclude only in mid-January.

It appears the process is going to be complicated, isn’t it?

Yes, it is going to be complicated because different tiers of government view federalism through their own lenses. Recently, some of the local governments rejected the idea of retaining employees deployed by the federal government. Province 3 also said it doesn’t want any more employees from the central government. This indicates lack of coherence between the three tiers of government.

Can the Public Service Commission help resolve this problem in any way?

The commission cannot play a role in the adjustment of civil servants in the three tiers of government. We did give suggestions during the drafting of the Employee Adjustment Bill, which were initially rejected. Later, the Parliamentary State Affairs Committee invited us to hold discussions on the content of the draft legislation and incorporated our suggestions. We have now provided tips to the central government on making the work of provincial public service commissions seamless, as they are bodies that will start hiring civil servants for provincial and local governments.

Public Service Commission is one of the few autonomous bodies highly regarded by the public. Can the provincial PSCs protect that legacy?

PSC works on the basis of meritocracy, which is why we are still a trusted name. If the provincial PSCs fail to adhere to this principle, they may tarnish their image. But people must understand that PSC is a body under the federal government, and provincial PSCs are bodies under the respective provinces. They should not judge us or evaluate our performance by keeping us in the same basket. However, PSC has outlined principles based on which provincial PSCs should operate. We have handed them over to the federal government. If those principles are followed, provincial PSCs will not land in controversies.

Why are there conflicts between elected local representatives and civil servants working for local governments?

Many elected leaders wish to gain popularity by implementing a number of projects. But they do not have adequate resources to do so. That is why many are raising taxes or fees indiscriminately. These moves may not have been approved by civil servants working for local governments, that’s why the tussle.

So, how can this problem be resolved?

A secretary-led committee has been formed under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration to look into this issue. Also, local governments are now realising their mistake of increasing the tax burden on people, as they have faced lots of criticism. Some of the local governments have even revoked their decision to increase taxes.

Federalism is a system of governance in which people are governed by different layers of government. So, this system has benefits and downsides too. One of the benefits of the federal system is that the government will be at the doorsteps of people to listen to their problems. But under a federal system, people may also feel their freedom is encroached upon because of the presence of too many layers of government. This is the drawback of this system.

The government is planning to set the retirement age for everyone in public service at 60. Is this the right thing to do?

Yes, it is. There should be uniformity in retirement age for everyone in public service. People working for different public sectors, like health, Parliament, army and civil service, currently retire at different ages. Why should an employee working in a particular public sector be given the privilege of working for more years than another employee working in another public sector?

The government is also planning to scrap a provision that allows outsiders and in-house staff of section officer level to contest for the post of joint secretary (first class officer). What is your take on this issue?

Currently, outsiders with adequate qualification and experience can fight for the post of first class officer. This scheme was introduced to attract professionals from the private sector, academia and I/NGOs, among others. But the response to this scheme has been lukewarm. So, in most of the cases only in-house staff have been utilising this provision to get promotions. We have not made any comment on the government proposal to scrap this provision, as we are still discussing this matter. Yet what we have noticed is lack of experience in staff who apply for this scheme and jump to the post of joint secretary from that of section officer. Such people often go on to become secretaries without much experience. Secretaries are people who steer ministries and should know the nuts and bolts of the bureaucracy. Considering this, we may have to scrap this scheme and introduce a similar scheme for the post of under-secretary. But this is just a suggestion.

The tendency of government officials to attend every small programme abroad has drawn public ire. What is your take on this issue?

There are two extreme lines here. One says, foreign trips should be completely banned. The other says, there should be no restriction on foreign trips for government employees. We have to take the middle way. If the event is extremely important, the government should send employees abroad. If it is not, then there is no use sending employees.

What is worrying in Nepal is the tendency to attend programmes that are unrelated to employees. Recently, Japan hosted an event for fire fighters and an invitation was extended to Nepali participants as well. But instead of sending a fire fighter, the government sent an under-secretary to attend the event. This practice should come to an end.