Kathmandu, May 9

Lawmakers in the parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee today criticised the draft of the Federal Civil Servants Bill, which was prepared by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration.

Lawmakers said the bill’s provisions only favoured allowances and income of civil servants but lacked clear-cut provisions for holding them accountable while performing duty.

After lawmakers’ criticism, Chair of the panel Shashi Shrestha directed the ministry to come up with a proper draft with provisions that would make civil servants more responsible towards their work.

However, Secretary at MoFAGA Yadav Koirala defended the bill saying the ministry had drafted the proposal of the bill following consultations with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his line Minister Lal Babu Pandit.

Koirala said one of the provisions of the bill would allow transfer of a secretary from one cluster to another cluster.

Lawmaker Nawaraj Silwal criticised the provision of inter-cluster transfers.

“How can a secretary who holds a technical background work as a foreign secretary?” Silwal asked, adding this provision should be scrapped.