State Affairs and Good Governance Committee Chair Khatiwada resigns

KATHMANDU: Chairperson of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives, Ram Hari Khatiwada, has resigned.

Khatiwada announced his resignation while addressing the meeting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The Parliamentary Investigation Special Committee, which was formed after provisions related to the cooling-off period for civil servants in the report of the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2023, was unlawfully changed, submitted its report to the House of Representatives on August 5.

The committee had held State Affairs and Good Governance Committee Chairperson Ram Hari Khatiwada and Committee Secretary Suraj Kumar Dura responsible for the discrepancy in the cooling-off period provision in the Bill.

“Instead of showing the revised draft report to the committee members for discussion and then presenting it to the House, an informal meeting was held among certain individuals. This indicates a lack of coordination on the part of the chairperson,” the report wrote about Khatiwada.

Khatiwada added that the Bill’s report had been prepared contrary to the intent of the State Affairs Committee’s legislation. “Staff from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration were involved in drafting the report,” Khatiwada said, admitting that it was a mistake not to review the document thoroughly in the final stage. ”

Although members of the committee had agreed to put a two-year cooling-off period for government officials, a sub-clause was added in the final report submitted to the House of Representatives, which stated that the provision will not apply to constitutional and diplomatic appointments made by the Government of Nepal.