Upper House Committee Agrees to Include Cooling-Off Period in Civil Service Bill

The Legislation Management Committee of the National Assembly has decided to include a provision for a two-year 'cooling-off period' for retired civil servants in the Civil Service Bill.

The committee members reached the decision following discussions on the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2023 on Saturday, August 30. The issue had drawn controversy after the House of Representatives passed the bill on June 29 by altering the cooling-off period, which against the spirit of the bill allowed high-ranking government officials to immediately join constitutional bodies post-retirement.

According to the revised bill, civil servants or other government employees who resign or retire will be ineligible for appointment to any constitutional or government position until two years after leaving service.

Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Bhagawati Neupane urged the committee to advance the bill. She said the legislation not only addresses the cooling-off period but also covers the appointment, transfer, and management of civil servants. “If problems arise in practice, the law can be amended. Therefore, the committee and the National Assembly should pass the bill at the earliest,” she said.

Lawmakers agreed that the cooling-off period should apply to high-ranking civil servants, including the chief secretary, secretaries, and joint-secretaries, but not to employees below those ranks.

Committee Chair Tulasa Kumari Dahal directed the committee secretariat to prepare the draft report with proper wording of the agreed provisions. – With inputs from RSS