CAOs must report to duty,says Minister Neupane

By Prabin Kumar Sharma,Rautahat, Aug.30: Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Bhagawati Neupane has said that the Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) assigned to local levels must report to duty.

Speaking to The Rising Nepal, Minister Neupane said that if local governments prevent the posting of CAOs as per the approved positions, the ministry will cancel the financial authority given to acting CAOs in those places.

She added that employees who fail to report to their duty stations will first be encouraged to join the local level. If they still refuse, they will not be allowed to mark attendance at their current offices either. She stressed that cooperation from all stakeholders is necessary to make this effective.

On Thursday night, the ministry transferred 122 Under-Secretaries and 97 Section Officers. Of them, 15 Under-Secretaries and one Section Officer have been posted in Rautahat. Out of 18 local governments in Rautahat, all except Chandrapur Municipality and Durga Bhagawati Rural Municipality have been assigned acting CAOs. 

Once the newly posted CAOs assume office, the acting officers will be relieved of their duties.

The ministry has assigned Under-Secretaries as CAOs in the municipalities of Madhavnarayan, Maulapur, Fatuwa Bijaypur, Ishnath, Paroha, Rajpur, Katahariya, Dewahi Gonahi, Brindavan, Garuda, Rajdevi, Gaur, Baudhimai, Gadhimai and Gujara, while a Section Officer has been assigned to Yamunamai Rural Municipality.

Although officers have been posted, past experience shows that getting them to actually report on duty has been a challenge. Some municipalities in Rautahat had not been assigned an Under-Secretary-level CAO for the past eight years.

Former President of FNJ Rautahat Premchandra Jha said that the ministry’s move to appoint CAOs in all local governments as per the approved quota is commendable, as it will support development, good governance and transparency.

Bhim Prasad Dhungana, president of the Municipal Association of Nepal, said acting CAOs had been appointed out of necessity, but this created various problems in handling responsibilities. He welcomed the ministry’s decision to post regular CAOs.

Similarly, Lakshmi Devi Pandey, president of the National Association of Rural Municipalities in Nepal, said that CAOs have a close working relationship with local representatives and warned that staff with a tendency to fuel disputes should not be appointed as CAOs. 

She added that sending Acting Officers and then replacing them with regular CAOs made work more difficult.

She welcomed the ministry’s decision to remove Acting Officers and appoint CAOs as per the approved quota and said this process should continue.