Ban on trade unions and party flags frees bureaucracy and academia: PM Shah
KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Balendra Shah has said the government’s decision to ban trade unions and party flags in universities and the civil service is intended to make the bureaucracy and academia 'clean, free and professional'.
In a social media post on Tuesday, he said the ban on party flags in schools and the civil service “will not seize rights of students and employees, but strengthen professional freedoms.” He argued that party politics in universities and the civil service, long rooted in the country, has damaged education and administration, and that removing party flags will bolster rights and professional freedoms.
Shah said journalists, leaders, activists, businesspeople and members of the public have for years argued that 'party‑ocracy' has undermined university study and the civil service. He said some organisations are 'sleeper cells' of political parties that act with “brazen adversity to students and employees”, and said undue access based on patronage and sycophancy over competence has caused public distrust in the system.
Rejecting suggestions that the move was motivated by the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s (RSP) inability to form organisations in academia and the civil service, Shah said the measure was “entirely for quality enhancement in universities and the dignity of employees.” He added that if the RSP wished, it could form an organisation quickly, but that creating another organisation would not bring reform, as past experience shows.
The prime minister said transfers and promotions of civil servants should be guided by procedure, competence and delivery rather than party affiliation. “Our effort is entirely for creating opportunity for students to learn from teachers rather than from politics, and not from a mob of political leaders,” he said, urging employees not to seek protection from party leaders but to follow the rules.
He said students could learn politics alongside culture, thought and responsibility, and told civil servants to be servants of citizens rather than of parties.
Shah insisted the government’s action was not a fight against any party but an attempt to protect institutions and secure a future of institutional reform. “This is a move to free the education system and bureaucracy from the party's undue influence. We brought ordinances to remove such ills as per your wish,” he said.
The prime minister sought public support and trust for the initiative, saying change required decisions as well as words. “We need your support and trust, for the change is not ensured with mere speeches but through decisions. We are in the government to deliver as per your wishes. Be sure, whatever we do, we do in favour of the Nepali people.”
(With inputs from RSS)
