Central bank retirement provision: Wagle to make recommendation by next week
Some employees are demanding NRB scrap provision on compulsory retirement
Sep 23, 2016- Former government secretary Bimal Wagle will submit a report, encompassing recommendation on whether to amend a provision on compulsory staff retirement plan of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), by next week.
Wagle was hired by NRB to prepare the report after some staff of NRB demanded that the provision on compulsory retirement after 30 years of service be scrapped.
At present, NRB staff must retire after 30 years of service or after reaching the age of 58, whichever comes first. Removal of the provision on retirement after 30 years of service, many NRB officials say, will prevent the central bank from injecting fresh blood in the institution.
Although Wagle did not reveal what recommendation the report will make, he said he would reach a conclusion by “giving priority to institutional interest of NRB”.
This is not the first time NRB had tried to weigh the pros and cons of removing the provision on retirement after 30 years of service. During the time when Yuba Raj Khatiwada was the NRB governor, a committee was formed under NRB board member Ram Hari Aryal to address this issue. But it couldn’t. The issue was then forwarded to NRB’s board, but it also couldn’t give its opinion on the matter.
Later, a three-member committee was formed under Parthiveshwor Timilsina, former NRB board member, to look into pros and cons of demand raised by employees. The report submitted by the committee has not been made public.
If the provision on retirement after 30 years of service is scrapped as demanded, it will immediately benefit around 300 staff at NRB who will have to leave the organisation in the next three years based on number of years of service they provided to the institution.
Of these 300 employees, according to NRB officials, 240, or 80 percent, do not have proper educational qualification or have educational qualifications other than those stipulated by NRB. “Such people are now exerting pressure on top management of NRB to scrap the provision on compulsory retirement after 30 years of service, so that they can serve the organisation for a longer period,” at least three senior NRB officials had previously told the Post on condition of anonymity. If the management heeds their advice, a person who joined NRB at the age of, say, 20 can serve the institution for 38 years, as against the provision of 30 years.
“If the 30-year cap on service is removed, NRB may not be able to inject fresh blood, who are better educated and techno-savvy, in the coming years, as employees of the older generation will grab their opportunity,” an official of NRB had earlier told Post on condition of anonymity. “The removal of the cap will also bar competent younger employees from climbing the rungs of career ladder at a desired pace, as most of the senior posts would be occupied by older employees.”
Even now, the level of skills and knowledge of newly recruited assistant level staff far exceed those of officers promoted from assistant level “under special provision of file promotion”, says a report on “Organ-isation and Management Survey of Nepal Rastra Bank” prepared by Nepal Administrative Staff College.
Newly recruited assistant level staff, for instance, possess higher academic qualification, says the report prepared in April. “But they are asked to perform jobs like note counting, sorting and teller transaction. This lowers their moral because they do not see these jobs adding value to their career progression,” further says the report, a copy of which has been obtained by the Post.
“Officers promoted under
special provisions, on the other hand, do not possess skills and knowledge to perform the job of officer level, especially in the core business areas of research, regulation and supervision.”
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