Aug 05, Kathmandu - Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal has said that he will continue to try to prevent the introduction of a 'cooling off period' until the Federal Civil Service Bill, 2080, is enacted.

During a statement to the parliamentary special investigation committee formed to investigate the alleged flaws in the bill, he said that he will remain opposed to the 'cooling off period' until the act is enacted.

"We have been insisting that there should be no cooling-off period as a matter of our right," Chief Secretary Aryal said in a statement given to a committee formed under the leadership of MP Jeevan Pariyar. "The same demand still exists. I will continue to insist that this bill should not be kept until it becomes an act."

He has admitted that he had requested Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, and CPN-Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' not to impose a 'cooling off period'.

"We have already made a demand to the Prime Minister, the President of the Nepali Congress, and even Prachanda that there should be no cooling-off period," Chief Secretary Aryal said in a statement. "After the bill was passed by the committee (State Administration and Good Governance Committee), we have already gone to the Speaker to say that there should be no cooling-off period."

Chief Secretary Aryal has also said that he did not speak out to make a fuss but in his official capacity. ‘The error must be corrected. The problem has arisen due to lack of trust in the employees and lack of trust,’ he said. ‘This is why human errors have occurred rather than intentional errors in the cooling-off period regarding subsections (4) and (5).’

During his statement before the investigation committee on July 4, he claimed that he had participated in some of the discussions regarding the bill and came to know about the error through the media after the report passed by the committee was passed by the House of Representatives.