Lawmakers from both houses are likely to regain personal secretaries, as the Federal Parliament Secretariat has initiated a process to reinstate the provision.

A meeting of the Secretariat Operation and Management Committee of the Federal Parliament on Monday decided to move with reinstating the facility scrapped by the Sushila Karki-led interim government. The committee agreed to recommend that the government begin defining the qualifications for personal secretaries for lawmakers and office-bearers.

The meeting, chaired by Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal, also decided to write to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to request necessary legal arrangements for the provision.

“The secretariat has asked the law ministry to make necessary legal arrangements to provide personal assistants to members of Parliament,” said Ekram Giri, spokesperson for the secretariat. The decision to make personal assistants available was taken with consent from the Speaker, the National Assembly chair, and other office-bearers, according to Giri.

A member of Aryal’s secretariat said, on condition of anonymity, that there was also consensus to ensure that strict legal provisions prevent the misuse of authority in appointments while also setting clear standards for educational qualifications and eligibility criteria.

“The Ministry of Law had started preparations even before the committee’s recommendations. It will now move ahead with consent from the Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers for further steps,” the secretariat member said.

Monday's decision, however, is yet to reach the law ministry formally. Law Minister Sobita Gautam said she had heard about the decision and was awaiting official communication.

“In practical terms, there is a shared understanding that each lawmaker needs a personal secretary,” she told the Post.

Citing the need to cut unproductive costs and promote fiscal discipline, the Karki government withdrew the personal secretary facility provided to members of both the federal and provincial assemblies. The provision was also cut for the deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and the vice-chair of the National Assembly, even as it continued for the Speaker and the Assembly chair. The decision was implemented as proposed by then-finance minister Rameshore Khanal.

Talking to the Post, Khanal said the decision to scrap the provision followed widespread complaints that lawmakers appointed their close relatives as personal secretaries. In some cases, he said, they even claimed the salaries for such staff even without appointing them.

Khanal added that there were also concerns raised by some parliamentarians and the Parliament Secretariat that some of the individuals meant to assist lawmakers were themselves unqualified for the role. He further argued that the weaknesses seen in the civil service bill’s “cooling-off period” proposal reflected this problem.

The lawmakers failed to read the bills themselves, and the secretaries did not adequately review them either, which ultimately led to those shortcomings, he said.

Before the interim government’s decision, personal secretaries were appointed under section 5 of the Act Relating to the Remuneration and Facilities of Office Bearers and Members of the Federal Parliament, 2016. The provision allowed for a private secretariat and staff for lawmakers.

Under this arrangement, lawmakers were entitled to one personal secretary, drawing pay and perks on par with those of a gazetted third-class officer.

Right after the March 5 polls, newly elected lawmakers started lobbying to restore the facility. Some claim that the position should not be reinstated under the title of “personal secretary” but introduced under a different title, such as “researcher”.

“MPs need help to focus on policy formulation and research,” said CPN-UML lawmaker Padma Aryal, who is also a party secretary. “It can be viewed from different perspectives but such support is also important for maintaining coordination between lawmakers and their constituencies.”

On Monday, Speaker Aryal held discussions with former Speakers Agni Prasad Sapkota and Devaraj Ghimire on the issue.

Sapkota told the Post that they suggested support staff for MPs as lawmaking demands study and research. While personal secretarial support to lawmakers may improve the quality of legislation, any such arrangement must be free of irregularities seen in the past, he argued.

“Every new parliament passes the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives, clearly setting out criteria for appointing personal secretaries and their educational qualifications,” Sapkota stressed.

Former finance minister Khanal believes that if lawmakers genuinely need secretariat staff, it would be more appropriate to appoint them from among civil servants.

As the government discusses downsizing the bureaucracy, such staff could be readjusted to utilise their experience and institutional knowledge, Khanal suggested.