PRASIDDHA JUNG SHAH COMPETES IN LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 THURSDAY Kathmandu, 2 Aug.: Prasiddha Jung Shah competes Thursday in the 50 meters free style swimming in the London Olympics 2012 Shah competed in the Olympics as well. Five Nepalis are competing in the London Olympics 2012. Nnnn PM BACKS APPOINTMENT OF LILA MANI POKHREL Kathmandu, 2 Aug.: As controversy dogs the appointment of a new acting chief secretary, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Wednesday defended his decision to pick Lila Mani Poudel for the top bureaucracy post as an “absolutely correct” move, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post. . The PM also expressed displeasure at many secretaries who announced their resignations. Five disgruntled secretaries resigned following Poudel’s appointment. They expressed reservations over the elevation of a junior secretary to the top post. In a meeting attended by all government secretaries, except Umakanta Jha from the Ministry of Industry and Baman Neupane from the President’s Office, on Wednesday afternoon, Bhattarai claimed that there were no senior or junior secretaries as all 13 of them came from the 2007 batch. “In terms of job performance, many of them are equal and some performed better. So I maintained that criteria while also keeping in mind those who can serve the full three-year term,” Bhattarai said. “Personally, I am not in favour of changing the chief secretary frequently. Politically, we are going through a very difficult situation and at this juncture, we need a stable, efficient bureaucracy and strong leadership.” The PM asked the bureaucrats to instead bring about changes in governance, expedite development work and pay more attention to projects of national pride. “Ultimately, one would get the position and I was aware that the rest would obviously be unhappy. Although I have never questioned the integrity and performance of the 13 other secretaries, I cannot appoint them all to the top post. My wisdom told me that Poudel was the best because of his work performance and I decided to pick him,” said the PM. He also said that a bureaucracy modelled on India could be ideal, where officials know their future career prospects. After Bhattarai spoke, some secretaries raised the issue of over-politicisation of the bureaucracy. They provided suggestions on how to make the bureaucracy more effective and the hindrances they face while performing their duties. Secretary at the Public Procurement Office, Yaga Prasad Gautam complained that as he had just six months to retirement, he would never get a chance to serve at a ministry. Secretary at the Ministry of Environment Krishna Gyawali urged the PM to prepare better criteria for appointing the chief secretary. Another secretary, Dharanidhar Khatiwada of the Ministry of General Administration, who has served more than 15 years at the joint-secretary level, expressed displeasure on the promotion criteria and demanded an end to the tradition of one secretary appointing another. Health Secretary Pravin Mishra raised the perennial problem of being understaffed and of faulty governance. “More than 7,000 posts are vacant, people are leaving jobs due to meagre pay, there are administrative problems and promotions or transfers haven’t taken place for long,” Mishra said. Secretary Yubraj Bhusal of the National Planning Commission said, “Why are ministers authorised to transfer secretaries? The Cabinet should transfer secretaries, not ministers,” he said. He also complained of various trade unions creating problems for governance. The PM later said some provisions in the Civil Servant Act were unfriendly and that they needed amendments. nnnn