There are 79‚731 permanent civil servants across the country.

 

The civil servant unions have threatened to go on agitation tomorrow on the occasion of Civil Servant Day demanding that the temporary staffers employed in government offices be given permanent status.

 

There are 79,731 permanent civil servants across the country. Among them, 85 per cent are males, 15 per cent females, 21 per cent gazetted officers, 52 per cent non-gazetted officers, and 27 per cent classless staffers, working at 8,400 service centres, according to the Ministry of General Administration. Moreover, 2,407 staffers had retired in the last fiscal year. 

 

According to different civil servants’ unions, there are about 8,000 to 10,000 additional staffers working on contract, temporary and wage basis.

 

The three kinds of temporary staffers released a pamphlet today demanding that the government appoint them in permanent posts. They also threatened to go on strike in the Valley tomorrow and block the government vehicles on the Civil Servants Day.

 

The Civil Servant Day is observed on September 7, coinciding with the occasion of the promulgation of the Civil Service Act on September 7 (Bhadra 22) in 1956. A 17-member main organising committee headed by Chief Secretary Lila Mani Paudel has been formed to observe the day. Paudel is returning today from China after a week-long visit.

 

Jit Bahadur Madai, secretary of the Nepal Civil Servants Union, said the MoGA decided to celebrate the day at Pashupati by organising a sanitation programme. “Since the beginning, the programme has been celebrated every year on the MoGA premises, Singh Durbar by organising a morning rally and different programmes,” he said, adding, “We were prepared to celebrate the day as usual. But, the MoGA announced that the day will be celebrated at Pashupati to avoid the protest called by the temporary staffers.” The officials at the MoGA admitted that the temporary staffers were seeking permanent status against the Civil Service Act. 

 

Meanwhile, the MoGA has called on all the staff above the second class ranks to be present at the Pashupati to mark the day. “We are against the government decision of observing the day at Pashupati to avoid the protest,” said Madai. “The government should initiate the process as per the Civil Service Act by announcing vacancies for temporary staffers if it needs employees,” he added.

 

Madai also expressed dissatisfaction at the government’s apathy this year to honour better-performing bureaucrats and felicitate retired ones as usual. 

 

The Civil Service Regulation 2050 BS (116, A) has provisioned to honour the best bureaucrat with Rs 200,000, ten good performers with Rs 100,000 each and 30 with civil service award of Rs 50,000.