The government has amended the Civil Service Act 2049 by ordinance with effect from July 18. Important new changes include the ban on civil servants’ associations, abolition of the pension, phasing out of the posts of Mukhias and Baidars (non-gazetted third and fourth class), filling in the vacancies for Nayab Subba (non-gazetted first-class employees, non-technical) solely through promotion, full authority to the government to send civil servants to the reserve pool indefinitely, hiring employees such as drivers, peons and sweepers on contract, and affirmative action in favour of certain groups. Some of the changes are those announced by previous governments, and others are new, and some are welcome and others not. But what is more worrisome than anything else is the disrespect the government continues to show for democratic and constitutional norms. The ban on the unions, reminiscent of the Panchayat days, violates the constitutional right to form unions and associations as well as the ILO Convention. The government justifies the ban by saying that it is aimed at ending the politicisation of the civil service. If that were really the reason, the objective could have been better achieved through less drastic measures. Moreover, unfortunately, the civil servants who have gone out of their way to support the present regime do not face any action.

In introducing some of the changes, the government has ignored the Public Serivice Commission (PSC), a constitutional body which must be consulted in matters of the law relating to the conditions of service of the civil servants, the general principles guiding their appointments and promotions, among other things. The government has, contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, argued that it need not accept the PSC’s suggestions. Another serious flaw of the amendment is the failure to apply the rules fairly and equally, particularly in pension. For example, the new rule will apply only to those to be recruited in future, not to the old employees, and also that the army and the police are not subject to such a rule. In view of the government’s new discretionary powers over the civil servants, the new amendment is likely to be widely regarded as an attempt to cow them into submission.