Civil service day marked; No need of bureaucratic haul with change in guard-Minister KC

Kathmandu / Sept 7:Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said how to decentralise civil service which still remained in a centralised and integrated form and restructure its mechanism as per a federal system was the major question of the hour.

Addressing a special ceremony organised today by the Ministry of General Administration at Nepal Academy on the occasion of the Civil Service Day-2073 BS, the Prime Minister said, “Nepal’s civil service is really in a critical juncture. It has now also a major responsibility of enforcing the constitution and it is likely to be affected the most by the constitution enforcement itself.”

There was a need to change the existing structure of the civil service to implement the federalism in real sense. Decentralisation of the civil service as per the spirit of federalism was the need of the hour, he added.

Stating that the country was very soon celebrating the first anniversary of the promulgation of the constitution of a federal democratic republic of Nepal, he insisted on effective role on part of the civil service to ensure meaningful enforcement of the country’s main law. On the occasion, he took an opportunity to applaud civil service’s ability to maintain stability in its business even during a long political transition in the country.

Federalism was totally a new exercise in the context of the Nepal, the Prime Minister said, adding that side by side it was a golden opportunity for us to build a better and prosperous Nepal.

Underlining the need of right implementation of federalism, he said this new state system must be practiced as per the need of the country.

PM Dahal said, “I humbly request the civil service employees to lend support for Nepali society’s transformation by contributing in the interest of all classes, regions, gender, castes and creed and different language speakers, and country’s prosperity by training the focus on the interest of the country and people with prioritization of changed time, demand and necessity and by defining and embracing the essence and wording of the system and instrument in correct and justified manner.”

General Administration Minister Keshav Kumar Budhathoki called the civil service administration – which has been playing an important role in Nepal’s administrative management – the prime pivot of country’s function.

“People can feel the presence of good governance through the government’s efforts to reach doorsteps of general people with services through bureaucracy,” he said.

Likewise, revealing future programmes of civil service administration, Chief Secretary Dr Somlal Subedi and General Administration Secretary Purna Chandra Bhattarai said various programmes were afoot to make bureaucracy effective and transparent.

Meanwhile on the occasion, various civil servants were awarded for their outstanding performance. Among the honoured civil servants is Secretary at the Finance Ministry Shanta Raj Subedi who was honoured with the ‘Best Civil Service Award’. The Award carries a purse of Rs 200,000 and letter of appreciation.

Likewise, 10 other civil servants were honoured with the ‘Best Civil Service Award’ while 30 with the ‘Civil Service Award’.

Meanwhile, Minister for Urban Development Arjun Narsingh KC has said the implementation of constitution would not be possible by ignoring Terai-Madhes.

Honouring the civil service employees for their outstanding performances at a programme organized here on Wednesday by Nagarik Ekata Samaj, KC said that, “All political parties should sit together to address incompleteness and dissatisfaction surfaced in the constitution of Nepal. The indigenous communities including Madhesi should be brought to the constitutional ambit”.

Minister KC added that the civil service should be managed in way to keep them under the rule of law when the country was building federal structures.

CPN-UML leader Lal Babu Pandit recalled his experience that most of the employees – to whom country and people have utmost trust –were disappointing which he said would not augur well for the country.

Present on the occasion were Secretary at Industry Ministry Shanker Prasad Koirala, Secretary at Population and Environment Ministry Biswonath Oli and Chairperson of authorized Trade Union Punya Prasad Dhakal, among others. RSS