The National Assembly on Tuesday endorsed the Federal Civil Service bill that was finalised following intense discussions amid differences between the government and opposition.

While the move means the country now has one of the most vital laws needed to implement federalism, the bill contains provisions that extend beyond the scope of a federal civil service law.

Correcting a tampering from the House of Representatives, the Legislation Management Committee agreed to impose two years of cooling-off period. The National Assembly also endorsed the provision without changes.

Section 83 of the bill says any official from the federal civil service or other government services who has resigned from, or retired from, a gazetted special class or gazetted first-class position shall not be eligible for appointment to any constitutional, diplomatic or other government position until completing a period of two years.

Furthermore, section 121 has a provision which covers officials from the provincial civil service and other provincial government services.

In principle, as its name suggests, it is the law that covers civil servants at the federal level. However, it extends to other government services as well.

“It is not natural for the federal civil service law to cover the entire government service and to bring provincial service under its ambit,” senior advocate Radheshyam Adhikari, a former member of the National Assembly, told the Post. “This provision will be functional if there is no objection [a legal challenge].”

The cooling-off provision was included in the bill amid concerns that allowing civil servants to take up other positions immediately after leaving the service leads to conflict of interest. The civil servants, however, had been questioning why the cooling-off period should apply only to them, and not to those from other government services. But lawmakers say the provision applies equally to officials from other government services.

“It applies to all the services that have secretaries (special class) and joint-secretaries (first class) officials,” Tulasa Kumari Dahal, chair of the Legislation Management Committee, told the Post.

Experts, however, do not buy the logic. Adhikari said there are different government services, all of them guided by their own laws. For instance, there are separate Acts for parliamentary service and the health service.

“It would have been better had the changes been made in the respective laws rather than mentioned in the federal civil service law,” he said.

According to an official present during the deliberations on the bill, the issue was raised in the House committee fearing it could lead to problems in the future. “However, lawmakers and senior government officials preferred to ignore the concerns,” the official from the parliamentary service told the Post.

Other than the security forces, teaching, and corporations, there are nine different government services, each with its own Act. The law relating to one service cannot dictate the others, according to experts.

“I also agree that this law can not supersede other Acts. However, it has set a tone,” said Dahal. “Each of the laws from other services needs to be revised.”

The bill that was registered in the lower house in March last year was endorsed by majority votes on June 29 and dispatched to the National Assembly. The upper house endorsed it two months later. The revisions it has made now must be adopted by the lower house.

The bill is likely to be presented in the lower house, with the amendments from the upper house, within a week. It will be enacted after the presidential seal.