Kathmandu, December 20

The government has formed a grievances redressal committee to deal with the grievances of  government employees who have been opposing the provisions of the newly enforced civil servants adjustment ordinance.

Talking to mediapersons, Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Spokesperson for the government Gokul Baskota today said the representatives of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of the Ministers, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration and Trade Union of Civil Servants were members of the committee.

Minister Baskota assured the civil servants that the committee would redress their grievances. Disgruntled government employees had submitted a memorandum to government yesterday, opposing the provisions of the ordinance.

The employees had also staged protest in front of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration.

Minister Baskota said there was no point in civil servants staging protest.

In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, employees had stated that the ordinance was against the spirit of the new constitution. They said as per Article 243 (5) (d) of the constitution, the government needed to seek advice of the Public Service Commission before transferring a civil servant from federal government to provincial government or vice versa.

Minister Baskota said that those who said the ordinance provision was against the constitution were not right. He said if   there were any flaws in existing laws, they could be revised.

The agitating employees said all civil servants had a genuine desire of reaching the post of chief secretary, but under the provisions of the civil servants adjustment  ordinance, employees who chose to go to local governments and provinces would not be able to reach the top post.

However, Minister Baskota said there were no such provision in the ordinance that barred employees who chose to go to local governments and provinces from reaching the top post. “People are just making assumptions, but there are no such provisions in the ordinance,” he said.

The government needs 46,000 employees in the centre, 22,000 in the provinces and 58,000 in the local levels, according to the organisation and management survey. Baskota said there were around 89,000 civil servants under the federal government.

Baskota also said that the government had been investigating allegations against  Lucky Sherpa, Nepal’s ambassador to Australia, who was accused of human trafficking. “Foreign ministry has been investigating the matter,” he said.

‘Around 50 bills will be passed’

KATHMANDU: The government is planning to get around 50 bills passed in the new Parliament session. The president has summoned the winter session of the Parliament for December 25. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota said on Thursday that the government would introduce new bills in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament. Minister Baskota said 12 bills had already been registered at the Parliament Secretariat.