OFF THE RECORD (Spotlight Weekly)

‘This Is The First Govt That Understood Our Problems’

— Bhawani Prasad Thami

BHAWANI PRASAD THAMI, President of Nepal Civil Service Employees Association, is himself a non-gazetted employee working at the Ministry of Labor. Forty-three-year-old Thami spoke to SPOTLIGHT about the recent hike in salaries of government employees. Excerpts:

How do you see the increment of the employees' salary?

Frankly speaking, we had not imagined that salary would be increased by such a large proportion. As an employee association, we have been pressing the government for a long time to increase the salary of employees. I am happy that the government has finally accepted our demands.

It is said that there is a sharp variation in the increment of the salary. How do you look at it?

Yes. There is a wide gap between the non-gazetted and gazetted officers. The salary of lower level employees like messengers has not increased much as compared to that of the secretary and other gazetted employees. The disparity is quite high. We will raise this issue with the government.

What is the ratio of increment?

If you look at the increment of lower level employees like messengers, their monthly increment is less than Rs. 700 compared to the average of Rs 4,000 for gazetted officers. The increment of non-gazetted first class officers' salary is also very low.

Is the present salary adequate to survive?

In abstract terms, satisfaction cannot be had merely with the increase of salary. The salary of messengers who consist of more than one third of the government employees is still very much lower. I don't think their monthly salary is enough to sustain their monthly expenses. Whatever the situation, this is the first government which understood the problems of the government employees.

It means your association approves on the increase in the salary?

I told you that we have reservations over it. The government must take initiatives to give some kind of further relief to the lower level employees. As the bureaucracy cannot function without the active support of more than ninety-thousand non-gazetted employees, their grievances should not be sidelined.

Lucky Minister

Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya is not only bold but also lucky. Otherwise, he would not have continued as Finance Minister. Whatever turns the circumstances take, luck has always favored Acharya. From 1991 till today, no one can challenge Acharya's luck. Including his colleague in the party Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat to UML opponent Bharat Mohan Adhikary, all were forced to hail his budget. Along with boldness, luck is also a significant matter in politics. Acharya's is the typical case.

Change In Bhattarai

Former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has his own style of functioning. No body can predict what he will do. When he was Prime Minister, Bhattarai almost neglected the parliament. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Taranath Rana Bhat had to often request Bhattarai to attend the session but Bhattarai simply turned down the request. Bhattari even entered the parliament one day wearing informal dress. After his removal from prime ministership, Bhattari now regularly attends the session the of House of Representatives clad in formal Daura Suruwal.

Populist Politics

When every one is trying to become popular in politics, the back-bench seats are now the least favorite ones. This may be the reason why Speaker of House of Representatives Taranath Rana Bhat also took a populist decision by designing special gallery for the school children. The result of his populist decision is yet to materialize but for the time being this is another new populist tool of the Speaker.

Silent Joshi

When he was the Minister for Water Resources, Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi was always in news. After his transfer to the Home Ministry, Joshi now seems to have lost all his charms. He neither appears in Television nor in public functions. As a lawyer, Joshi may know the price of making public comments on issues like law and order.