Chief administrative officers assigned to all municipalities across Nepal

Kathmandu: The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has transferred 122 deputy secretaries and 97 branch officers, appointing most of them as Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) in municipalities across the country.

With these appointments, there are now no Acting Chief Administrative Officers in rural municipalities and municipalities, Minister Bhagwati Neupane announced. “For the first time since local level restructuring, the number of Acting Chief Administrative Officers in municipalities and rural municipalities has been reduced to zero,” she said.

Previously, 105 municipalities and 86 rural municipalities were being run by Acting CAOs. Minister Neupane stated that full administrative leadership has now been ensured at all local levels. “When I assumed responsibility for the ministry, 200 out of 753 municipalities were being run by Acting CAOs. From today, rural municipalities and municipalities across the country have been deputized,” she added.

According to the ministry, except for employees nearing retirement under the Civil Service Act, 2049, the newly assigned CAOs were selected to ensure transparency, efficiency, and experience in local administration. Priority was given to employees who had served in the ministry or its departments for more than two years, were concentrated in valley-based offices, had not worked at the local level, were due for provincial assignments, or belonged to the Fazil or additional group.

“I had pledged to end the trend of relying on acting office heads to run local levels. This decision was made keeping the country and the people at the center,” Minister Neupane said, instructing the newly appointed officers to carry out their duties with efficiency and integrity.

With this decision, all financial and administrative responsibilities previously delegated to Acting CAOs have been automatically canceled. Minister Neupane’s secretariat further informed that preparations are underway to appoint CAOs as per the quota in nine sub-metropolitan cities and one metropolitan city, where Joint Secretaries will take charge as Chief Administrative Officers.