A total of 464 Nepal civil servants have submitted resignations since the current fiscal year began on 17 July, according to the National Civil Service Records Office,as a proposed new civil service law leaves many employees uncertain about early retirement and pensions.
The number includes four secretaries, 33 joint secretaries, 72 under secretaries and 98 section officers. A further 257 resignations came from non-gazetted employees, including administrative assistants and unclassified service workers.
The resignations come as the government seeks to replace th Civil Service Act, 1993 with the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2083, which was registered in Parliament on 1 October. It is still awaiting parliamentary consideration.
What the bill proposes
The bill would raise the normal retirement age from 58 to 60 for employees who remain in service and for future recruits. However, it also contains a one-time provision requiring serving employees who have reached 55 or completed 30 years of service to retire when the law takes effect. Either condition would trigger it.
The Department of National Personnel Records has estimated that the provision could affect 1,641 officers in four senior categories: 39 of 53 serving secretaries, 214 joint secretaries, 635 under-secretaries and 753 section officers.
Pension worrries
A central concern is a proposed general cap limiting pension calculation to 30 years of service. Employees with 33, 35 or 38 years of service fear that years above the cap would not count towards their pension.
As an illustration, under a formula of last salary multiplied by years of service divided by 50, an employee with 38 years would receive 76 percent of final salary, against 60 percent if service were capped at 30 years.
The government revised the bill after the Public Service Commission (PSC) objected to adverse changes to existing benefits.The final version includes transitional safeguards, such as counting additional notional service years in certain cases, depending on age and circumstances of retirement. The 30-year cap nevertheless remains, and an individual’s outcome will depend on the final legal text.
Legal objections
The PSC argued that retiring employees at 55 or after 30 years could conflict with existing protections of service conditions, that employees hired under different conditions would be treated differently by the same rule, and that the pension cap could disadvantage longer-serving staff. It also objected that shortening the fixed terms of senior officials could harm their conditions of service. The PSC cited Section 58 of the existing Act, which bars changes to salary, pension and other service conditions to an employee’s disadvantage without consent in specified circumstances.
Why employees are leaving now
Uncertainty about the bill’s final form, the date it would take effect and the legislative process appears to be driving the departures.
Some employees with 30 years of service returned to work after the Dashain holiday with resignation letters ready, amid fears the government might introduce the provisions by ordinance rather than await parliamentary debate. That is a reported fear, not confirmation of any such plan.
The Cabinet approved sending the bill to Parliament in September, and constitutional lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya was quoted as saying an ordinance on the same subject after registering a bill would raise legal concerns unless the bill were withdrawn first.
The trend predates October. Earlier proposals on early retirement and pensions were already prompting departures in June and July.
Government’s stated aims
The government says Nepal needs a civil service law suited to federalism, with a more professional, accountable bureaucracy less open to political influence.
The 1993 Act predates the 2015 Constitution and its three tiers of government. Earlier attempts at a federal law stalled: a 2019 bill lapsed, and a 2024 bill passed the House of Representatives in 2025 but fell when the House was dissolved.
Beyond retirement, the bill would replace the class system with 14 levels, raise the inclusive share of open-competition posts from 45 to 49 percent, allow lateral entry of outside specialists in certain cases, set terms of two years for the chief secretary and three for secretaries, and impose a cooling-off period on certain post-retirement appointments.
Possible effects
Plausible risks include loss of experience at senior levels, pressure on remaining staff and lower morale. Departures could also open promotion opportunities, though replacements require selection, training and handover.
