As 6 secretaries end term by 30th June RCSC to soon send candidates list to Cabinet

A seventh one will finish his term by next month

Government offices in Thimphu and around the country are agog with speculation on who would be the next seven governments secretaries, as five of them will be finishing their Constitutional five year term by end of June 2016, a sixth one will touch 60 by June and a seventh one will also be retiring due to age in July.

The Bhutanese has learnt that the Royal Civil Service Commission will be sending the names of around 18 candidates to the Cabinet as potential replacements for the six secretaries. Another three will also be sent for the seventh secretary. The understanding is three potential names for every one seat out of which the cabinet has to make its choice.

The final list from the cabinet will then sent to His Majesty The King as per Article 2 section 16 (p) of the Constitution which says, “The Druk Gyalpo shall, by warrant under His hand and seal, appoint the Secretaries to the Government on the recommendation of the Prime Minister who shall obtain nominations from the Royal Civil Service Commission on the basis of merit and seniority and in accordance with other relevant rules and regulations.”

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay talking about the type of secretaries that the government wants said, “We want secretaries who will be able to deliver the 11th five year plan and fulfill the objectives of the government.”   The PM said that he is yet to get the final list of candidates from the RCSC.

The five secretaries finishing their term by 30th June 2016 are Home Secretary Dasho (Dr) Sonam Tenzin, Finance Secretary Lam Dorji, Information and Communications Secretary Dasho Kinley Dorji, Education Secretary Sangay Zam, and Ministry of Labour and Human Resources Secretary Pema Wangda. Health Secretary Dorji Wangchuk will also be retiring in June 2016 for reaching 60 years of age while the same will apply for Agriculture Secretary Tenzin Dhendup who has a month more till July 2016.

The potential candidates have been selected by the RCSC mainly from the Executive Two (Ex2) level grade that consist of Director Generals and Dzongdas. It would also include a few Ex1 who are non constitutional post holding senior officials.

The Ex 2 level numbers around 48. If the eligible Ex1 officials are included the numbers would be slightly over 50.

According to a reliable source RCSC’s main pool of candidates will mostly include current Director Generals at Ex 2 level although the list is not exclusive to them.

The process from the RCSC started a while ago with its Executive Management Division collecting all relevant information of the potential candidates.

This would include the service record and performance reports of the candidates in the past including discussions with the relevant people and seniors that the candidate worked for.

Information is also taken from the Royal Audit Authority and the Anti Corruption Commission to see if there are any issues and to also check for the integrity of the candidates.

In addition to performance and integrity, the RCSC also looked at the age and seniority of the candidates.

The source said that RCSC did not want to appoint very young senior officials as secretaries as it is only a five year term as per the Constitution after which they would be retired. However, if there are no suitable alternatives then younger candidates can also been included.

It has been learnt that the RCSC Commission had multiple meetings and in each meetings certain names were eliminated from the list which eventually led to the final list meant for the cabinet.

The appointment of six new secretaries followed by a seventh one later will also mean around seven vacancies at the Ex 2 level for posts like Director General Etc.

For this once the secretaries are appointed the RCSC will start selecting officials from the Ex 3 level who consists mainly of Directors numbering around 71.

Then again to fill the Ex 3 vacancies the RCSC will announce open competition for P 1 level officials to these mainly Director level posts. P 1 officials are mainly people like Chiefs of administration, Human Resource, Finance, PPD etc who fall just a grade below the Ex level.

Meanwhile, the RCSC already sent out a letter to the six secretaries saying they can take ‘Preparatory Leave’ from 1st June.

This one month time period is for the secretaries to prepare for handing and taking over of their office, reflect on their time in office, process important documents, visit important project sites and essentially wrap up. This is to prepare the secretaries for a smooth exit and transfer of responsibilities as in the past there have been cases of secretaries being so caught up in day to day activities that they did not get enough time to prepare properly for exiting office.

When the secretaries leave their office they could be given certain service awards or certificates. On the financial side secretaries will receive around 40 percent of their approximate Nu 70,000 per month pay as a monthly pension. This is along with the other benefits like gratuity etc.

However, post retirement the RCSC plans to use these secretaries as resource people in various capacities. Some would take part in mentoring programs of the RCSC for civil servants while others can take part in selection panels.

 

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