Valley
Provincial Public Service Commission picks up speed
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has prepared a draft law to establish Provincial Public Service Commission (PSC) and set up a panel to prepare the principles of the provincial and local service Acts, a senior official has said.Prithvi Man Shrestha
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has prepared a draft law to establish Provincial Public Service Commission (PSC) and set up a panel to prepare the principles of the provincial and local service Acts, a senior official has said.
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration Joint Secretary Bhupal Baral heads the panel that would prepare the principle and outline of the Provincial Civil Service Act and Local Service Act.
Ministry Secretary Dinesh Thapaliya said the laws are necessary to deploy staff at the provincial and local levels at the earliest along with adjusting existing civil servants. The provinces have urged a federal law on the standards to establish PSC that would enable them to recruit civil staff independently.
According to the constitution, the federal parliament has the mandate to write standards for Provincial PSC as per the constitution.
The draft of the proposed standards reads, “The three-member PSC including a women member should be appointed from independent experts who are not member of any political party.”
The Provincial PSC shall recruit and fill vacant positions in provincial and local government offices. Government agencies functioning under provincial and local governments should consult Provincial PSC on general principles to follow, while promoting and taking departmental action against any employee.
The proposed standards say recruitment should be based on merit and it should follow the principle of legitimacy that means decisions should be made by first preparing the necessary laws. Further, the Provincial PSC should be unbiased while recruiting.
The standards propose the methodology of examining the candidates’ competence for government jobs through competitive exams and technical knowledge test.
The Provincial PSC would work independently, but it would co-operate with the Federal PSC, the PMO official said.
“The Provincial PSC can receive technical support for this from the Federal PSC to prepare examination system and questions for candidates,” the official said.
After a prolonged delay, the federal government has taken these steps as provincial governments had threatened they would make laws and recruit staff. In fact, Province 2 has registered a Bill on Contract Act in the Provincial Assembly to hire employees on contracts.
Provincial governments have complained about difficulties in delivering services through the staff deployed by the federal government, as they are accountable to the federal government and not to the provincial governments.
Karnali Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Naresh Bhandari said, “We have got just one third of the required staff. We have not been able to mobilise them as per our requirements because their accountability rests with the federal government.”