“After seriously reviewing the proposal, we decided not to create the post. To create the post of secretary at the president´s office, which would be more powerful than other senior government secretaries would be absurd,” said General Administration Minister Rabindra Shrestha.
The president´s office had asked the government to create the post stating that a senior secretary would be better able to undertake administrative functions. “We wouldn´t have tabled the proposal had the government appointed a secretary like the one we have earlier,” said the president´s press advisor Rajendra Dahal. Dahal said they had difficulty dealing with the junior secretary at the president office.
The government, on the other hand, has formally decided not to appoint two chief secretaries. “Appointment of two chief secretaries would set a wrong precedent. This would violate basic norms and values of administrative principles,” Minister Shrestha added.
The Ministry of General Administration before turning down the president´s office proposal had also reviewed the structure of public administration in other countries. “However, we found that none of our neighboring countries have the practice of appointing two chief secretaries,” said Minister Shrestha, adding that the decision was reached after consulting with administrative experts.
Two months ago, the government appointed Madhav Ghimire as the chief secretary and the then secretary Umesh Mainali as principal secretary at the president´s office.
But later, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and other cabinet members did not promote Mainali to the post of principal secretary, saying that the cabinet had only transferred him to the president´s office. Mainali put in his papers a few weeks later.
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