Saturday 20th April 2024
Dashain may have ended but it seems to have a lasting impact on the people of Nepal, especially government officials!
Even two days after Dashain, government offices continue to see a low attendance from civil servants and government officials.
Civil servants have not returned to duty in Singha Durbar, Nepal’s main administrative building and its departments.
Several ministries secretaries, joint-secretaries and lower-level staff were absent on October 22, 2018. Moreover, chambers of ministers and high-ranking officials remained closed.
“I could not serve tea and water to my guests as my staff have not returned from holidays,” said a senior official at Singha Durbar.
Luckily, senior officials who did not participate in Dashain festivities and who live close to Kathmandu were able to attend office on October 21 and 22, 2018.
Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration Secretary Dinesh Thapaliya said Junior officials and staffers were yet to return from festive celebrations. “Civil servants are gradually joining office; the festive mood is not over yet,” Thapaliya added.
Noted as one of the busiest premises in Nepal, the Department of Passport (DoP) processes over 1,000 passports and receives almost the same number of applications in a day.
Unfortunately, on the first day after Dashain the office received 330 applications which further increased to some more until October 22, 2018. The office at the time had few staff.
The Department of Transport Management’s license section received a few service requests. However, there were even fewer government officials to cater to these requests.
Overall, officials said that the service delivery was not badly affected as the demand after festive season was low.
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