KATHMANDU, August 7: There is a tendency to change secretaries and directors general in the departments concerned as soon as the minister changes or there is change in the government. While ministers change at short notice, they are also quick to change top-level government staff, which have weakened the performance of the ministries.
It is certain that the secretaries of important ministries like home and finance will change as soon as there is a change in the ministers. Similarly, the leadership in important departments such as Revenue Investigation, Inland Revenue, Money Laundering Investigation, Urban Development and Building Construction, Road, Foreign Employment, Customs, and Department of Health Services have changed frequently.
As soon as Janardan Sharma became the finance minister, he changed the Director General (DG) of the Inland Revenue Department and the Customs Department within a month. Binod Kunwar was transferred from the Inland Revenue and was replaced by Shobhakant Paudel. Paudel could not work even for six months. At present, Ritesh Kumar Shakya has come to the Inland Revenue Department. Sharma replaced Yamalal Bhusal in the customs department and brought in Kamal Prasad Bhattarai. Before Bhusal, the DG of the Customs Department was Rameshwar Dangal. Within a month of coming to the ministry, Sharma also changed the finance secretary.
21 Secretaries transferred en masse with government change
Similarly, when Ramkumari Jhakri became the Minister for Urban Development, she removed the DG of Urban Development and Building Construction Department Navraj Pyakurel. She replaced Pyakurel with Padam Mainali. Mainali also could not stay for long. At present, Ramchandra Dangal is the DG of the department. Jhakri also changed the secretary of the ministry.
Likewise, as soon as Krishna Kumar Shrestha became the Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security, he changed the DG of the Foreign Employment Department. Deepak Kafle was replaced by Shesh Narayan Paudel. In addition to this, when Jeevan Ram Shrestha came to the tourism ministry as the minister, he changed the DG of the tourism department on August 2. Taranath Adhikari was transferred from tourism and replaced by Hom Luitel. However, according to sources, the decision to change the DG in tourism was made during the tenure of Prem Ale.
The DGs have also been changed quickly in the Revenue Investigation Department and the Money Laundering Investigation Department, which are under the Prime Minister. At present, Prem Bhattarai is the Director General of the Money Laundering Investigation Department. Before Bhattarai, Gajendra Thakur was the DG. Before Thakur, Rupnarayan Bhattarai was the DG of the department. In one year, the DG has changed twice in the Money Laundering Investigation Department.
Similarly, Jhalakram Adhikari is currently the DG of the Revenue Investigation Department. Before him, Prakash Paudel held the crucial post . However, he could not work for long as well.
Meanwhile, according to the employees themselves, frequent changes in the higher level employees will hamper the effectiveness of the performance of the bureaucracy. Arjun Jung Thapa, the DG of the road department, said, "Stability is to make the work done by the bureaucracy more effective."
Likewise, there is one such department, where the DG has not changed for a long time. In the Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine, Basudev Prasad Upadhyaya has been the DG for the last six years.
