KATHMANDU: In his statement before the parliamentary special committee investigating alleged manipulation of the ‘cooling-off period’ clause in the Federal Civil Service Bill, State Affairs and Good Governance Committee chair Ramhari Khatiwada said he was misled by civil servants and did not anticipate the changes that were later made to the bill.
Appearing before the committee led by Nepali Congress leader Jeevan Pariyar, Khatiwada said the decision to include a two-year cooling-off period, restricting retired or resigned civil servants from taking new government appointments, was made unanimously in his committee. However, he admitted that trusting the bureaucrats resulted in the provision being altered after the bill passed the lower house.
“We had agreed unanimously to include the cooling-off provision,” he said. “But I didn’t expect it would be undermined through an additional sub-clause. I made the mistake of trusting the bureaucrats.”
The committee also questioned Khatiwada about whether Suraj Dura, secretary of the State Affairs Committee, was pressured by Parliament Secretary General Padma Prasad Pandey regarding the clause. Khatiwada responded that he had heard about bureaucratic lobbying, including from Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal’s group, even reaching the prime minister and other top officials.
The controversy stems from Clause 82 (2) of the bill, which originally required a two-year gap before former civil servants could be reappointed to government roles. However, a new sub-clause (5), added after the lower house passed the bill, effectively nullified that restriction, sparking backlash and prompting the formation of the investigation committee.
The special committee includes Sushila Thing (Nepali Congress), Narayan Acharya and Ishwari Gharti (CPN-UML), Madhav Sapkota (CPN-Maoist Centre), Ganesh Parajuli (Rastriya Swatantra Party), and Roshan Karki (Rastriya Prajatantra Party).
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