Koshi Province Government Ignores National Standards, Faces Employee Protests

Biratnagar. The Koshi Province Government has ignored the national standards issued by the federal government for administrative austerity, justification, and methodology, as well as clear court orders. Although the Organization and Management Survey (ONM) was completed last year, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development of Koshi Province has started a new ONM again. Employees of the authorized sixth (accounts) group have warned of protests against the government's move. The 'National Standards for Organization and Management Survey, 2082' issued by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration of the Government of Nepal prohibits any government agency from conducting a survey again within a certain period after ONM has been done once. 'After an organization's structure and staffing are determined through a survey, a new survey cannot be conducted for three years,' states sub-section (8) of section 10 of the standards. The proviso to the same sub-section prohibits changes in staffing for regular agencies for three years, except in special circumstances or when a policy decision for specific additional responsibilities or overall administrative restructuring has been made. Not only that, section 19, sub-section (2) under 'Abolition and Retention' in Chapter 6 of the standards clearly states, 'Actions taken regarding organization and management surveys in provinces and local levels in accordance with the laws of the respective levels before the implementation of these standards shall be deemed to have been done in accordance with these standards.' According to this legal provision, the organization structure and staffing of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, which was completed last fiscal year according to provincial law, must remain unchanged for at least three years. However, some high-ranking officials in the Chief Minister's Office of the Koshi Province Government have challenged the federal standards and established administrative norms by initiating a new ONM process. Alleging that the ONM, which was started against the rules, aims to remove the staffing of sixth-level accounts employees, the 'Koshi Province Accounts Group' has submitted a letter of attention to the ministry's secretary. The letter of attention submitted to the ministry on Monday states that the provincial government and concerned bodies are severely attacking the career development, legal rights, and self-respect of the employees. They have demanded that the work of removing (reducing) the staffing of authorized sixth-level (accounts) employees from offices for the benefit of a few individuals and vested interests be stopped immediately, as the ONM was completed last fiscal year and the federal civil service act is in its final stages of preparation. They have objected to the provincial government's malicious amendment and cancellation of the bill brought to the provincial assembly for the career development and promotion to the seventh level of sixth-level officers, demanding that the discriminatory decision be corrected and legal certainty for timely and just promotions be ensured. Employees who received the designation 'Officer' from the federal civil service during employee adjustment and were adjusted to Koshi Province have been demoted to the 'Assistant' level by the provincial government in violation of approved laws; they are pressuring to reinstate the designation 'Accounts Officer' and its dignity by amending the Provincial Civil Service Regulations. 'Without stopping the career development of employees, reducing their designations, degrading their self-respect, and cutting staffing due to temptation, it is impossible to envision good governance in the province. If our demands are ignored, we will be forced to advance more vigorous and pressure-based protest programs,' the employees said. This is not the first incident where the Koshi Province Government and the Provincial Public Service Commission have tampered with the legal rights and career development of employees. Previously, the High Court Biratnagar had quashed the decisions of the provincial government and the commission through an 'order of certiorari' when the Provincial Public Service Commission proceeded with promotion and recruitment processes in violation of the mandatory provisions of the act. In the case filed by Surendra Prasad Saha and 5 other engineering service employees, a joint bench of High Court Biratnagar judges Shridhara Kumari Pudasaini and Keshav Prasad Bastola ruled against the provincial government's actions on March 25, 2081. In that case, the Koshi Province Public Service Commission made a decision contrary to the spirit of Section 136 of the 'Provincial Civil Service Act, 2079' (Second Amendment) when determining the percentage for filling 6 vacant posts out of a total of 34 posts in the seventh level of the engineering service civil group. Section 136 of the Act mandated that 20% (performance) and 30% (seniority) of the total posts be allocated for promotion from the sixth level to the seventh level for the first time. However, the commission published an advertisement on October 10, 2081, based on the 6 vacant posts only, not the total posts, determining the percentages erroneously. The High Court deemed the commission's action illegal. 'The percentage determination, which directly affects the rights created by the benefits or opportunities provided by legislative law, cannot be considered lawful. Lawful career development is a right of the civil servant in service. If the right to career development is obstructed in any way or unlawfully denied contrary to the law, such a decision cannot stand,' the court's order stated. The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers Office's Provincial Secretary and Spokesperson, Ramkrishna Adhikari, clarified that the ONM process has been initiated to make the organization lean and agile. Spokesperson Adhikari stated that the organizational structure of all bodies of the provincial government is being reviewed. The High Court quashed the Provincial Public Service Commission's decision regarding percentage determination through an order of certiorari and issued a 'mandamus' in the name of the respondents to determine the percentage again based on the total 34 posts as per Section 136 and proceed with the promotion process. However, instead of complying with the order, the Public Service Commission has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the High Court's order. The Supreme Court has not yet heard the petition. Nevertheless, employees claim that the Public Service Commission is still proceeding with actions contrary to the High Court's order. Meanwhile, the Provincial Secretary and Spokesperson of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers Office, Ramkrishna Adhikari, clarified that the ONM process has been initiated to make the organization lean and agile. Spokesperson Adhikari stated that the organizational structure of all bodies of the provincial government is being reviewed. 'We are doing it for all bodies of the provincial government. It is difficult for me to say exactly when it will be completed, but we are working to finalize it. We have not made any final decisions or changes for any body yet; the process is still under study,' Adhikari said. He stated that they would re-examine the matter in accordance with the 'National Standards for Organization and Management Survey, 2082' issued by the federal government. 'We will look at the national standards again. When we look, it doesn't seem to have that meaning. After the recent changes, there is also a national atmosphere to make structures leaner and more agile. The intention of the standards is also that. The main objective is to make the organizational structure lean enough to perform the workload, considering that many posts are vacant and work is being done even with vacancies,' Adhikari said. 'If the national standards also say so and the concerned ministry itself does not feel it necessary, it may be returned without being adopted. However, if the concerned ministry—in whose area of work the process is taking place—feels the need for any change or improvement, the Chief Minister's Office will only facilitate it.' He rejected the claim that there is no need to conduct ONM now as the federal civil service act is about to be issued and employees will retire due to age limit or service period, leading to the need for ONM again. 'This claim is not valid. It is not valid because, in fact, we are a little behind the timeline set by the national standards. The national standards also talk about the timeline,' Adhikari said. 'Secondly, the issue of employees retiring due to age limit does not affect ONM. ONM is the calculation of the organization's responsibilities, workload, and required manpower. It can be operated by the existing manpower as needed, or if someone retires, work will be performed by new recruitments. Therefore, the matter of conducting ONM from the perspective of retirement under the federal civil service act is irrelevant, and that claim does not seem pertinent.' Adhikari clarified that the complaint about discrimination, where accounts officers of the eighth level are placed in infrastructure offices in Jhapa, Morang, and Sunsari, but lower levels (sixth/seventh) are placed in offices in other districts and the Infrastructure Development Directorate, is related to the subject ministry rather than the Chief Minister's Office. 'That matter falls within the jurisdiction of the concerned ministry. In terms of staffing structure, it is balanced. It is possible that the employees themselves do not want to stay in the directorate, or it depends on how the ministry has managed it,' Adhikari said. 'When making decisions in the Council of Ministers regarding the transfer of employees of which level to where under their jurisdiction, the proposal originates from the subject ministry itself.'