Dr. Anjan Shakya proposes removing cooling-off period from civil service bill

Dr. Anjan Shakya, a member of parliament nominated by the president, has proposed to remove the “cooling-off period” clause from the Federal Civil Service Bill.

She said the clause about the cooling-off period in the bill passed by the House of Representatives should be completely removed.

The cooling-off period means that government employees cannot take certain constitutional, diplomatic, or other appointments for a set time after they resign or retire. This rule is not practiced in Nepal.

The House of Representatives passed the bill with a rule that government employees must wait two years after resignation or retirement before getting any such appointment. Now, Dr. Shakya has proposed to delete this rule in the National Assembly.

Her amendment is in Article 82 of the bill, asking to remove clause 43 of the bill’s report, which contains the cooling-off rule.

Clause 43 says that government employees who resign or retire cannot be appointed to any constitutional or government position within two years of leaving their service.

Dr. Shakya’s proposal asks to remove this clause from the bill.

Five lawmakers from the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) — Gopal Bhattarai, Indira Devi Gautam, Rukmini Koirala, Sumitra B.C., and Sonam Geljen Sherpa — have also proposed removing the cooling-off period clause.

Their amendment asks to delete clause 43, paragraph 1, and adjust the following paragraphs accordingly.

Dr. Shakya’s proposal is similar to the one from UML lawmakers.