MoE staffers decline to go to local units due to portfolio row

Published On: August 17, 2017 02:30 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, August 17:Seventy eight under-secretaries of the Ministry of Education (MoE) deputed to the local units have declined to undertake their responsibilities after they were kept under the supervision of junior officers at the local units. Currently, there are 127 local units running without executive officers due to shortage of staffers.

According to the MoE, 78 under-secretaries were deputed to the local units in order to look into the education sector at the local level as per the spirit of the constitution. However, the officials assigned from the ministry were kept under the junior officers rather than establishing separate education body for them.

Dr Hari Prasad Lamsal, spokesperson at the MoE, said, “We deputed them to different local units. One under-secretary went to the local unit but he too came back. No one is willing to go there because of the unfair treatment.”

Neither the Education Act has provision for the education bodies at the local units nor has the MoE established such bodies. This has created a big problem at the local units to work for the education sector. As per the spirit of federalism, the government announced that school level education from grade 0 to XII will be run by the local units.

However, no such a mechanism has been developed yet, said the MoE officials. The Ministry of Federal Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of General Administration has deliberately intended to exclude the MoE staffers from going to local bodies, said the MoE officials.

As a result, 1,470 officials including 487 under-secretaries, 448 section officers and 501 non-gazetted officers of the MoE are now facing dilemma, said an under-secretary requesting anonymity.

Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD), said that the Ministry of General Administration is the responsible body to transfer the staffers.

“We will not discriminate against the staffers from one ministry and another. If the under-secretaries go to the metropolitan cities and work under joint-secretaries, there will not be any problem,” said Thapaliya.

A government source claimed that the government officials who want to stay in the capital and do not want to serve at the local units are creating all the fuss.