Fear over civil service bill prompts resignations of two joint secretaries and a revenue deputy director general

Two joint secretaries under the Finance Ministry have resigned a few months before they would have been compulsorily retired.

Padma Kumar Shrestha, deputy director general of the Inland Revenue Department, and Rajendra Dev Pandey, chief of the Public Debt Management Office, submitted their resignations to Finance Secretary Ghanshyam Upadhyaya. Shrestha is reported to have submitted his resignation on Monday. Due to age limits, Pandey was set to retire in Falgun and Shrestha in Jestha.

Earlier last week, Kedar Sharma, chief tax administrator at the Large Taxpayers' Office under the Inland Revenue Department, also resigned.

The Federal Civil Service Bill registered in Parliament proposes a 30-year service period and a 55-year age limit. Fear of these proposed provisions is causing senior officials to leave before regular retirement.

According to sources at the General Administration Ministry, more than 600 employees have resigned in the four months since the bill moved forward. About 31 of them are at joint secretary level and about 108 at under-secretary level.

Resignations at joint secretary level must be approved by the concerned ministry and the General Administration Ministry, and then by the Council of Ministers. However, whenever a resignation is approved, service is counted only up to the day the resignation was submitted.