Sewa Lamsal, senior most joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
There has been a trend that the Foreign Secretary accompanies the President and the Prime Minister when they embark on a foreign trip.
But outgoing Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal was not with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamaal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ during his recent delegation to the COP-28 held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Instead, Sewa Lamsal, senior most joint secretary at the Foreign Ministry, was with Prime Minister Prachanda when he attended the COP-28.
“Lamsal joined the prime minister’s delegation in her capacity as an ‘acting secretary’. Besides discharging her duties as the spokesperson, she is also the head of the United Nations under the Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Secretary Paudyal had gone on leave one week before Prime Minister flew to Doha to attend the COP28 (December 29).
That is why Senior Joint Secretary Lamsal went to the UAE in her capacity as an 'acting secretary'.
Paudyal went on leave as he was retiring after one week on the ground of 58-year-old age-limit. There is a trend of going on leave a few days before the date of retirement. He had followed the same trend. Proposed Nepali Ambassador to Canada, Paudya retired on December 5.
With his retirement, the post of secretary at the Foreign Ministry is lying vacant. Lamsal is looking after the administrative affairs as ‘acting secretary’.
As the senior most joint secretary at the Foreign Ministry, Lamsal is likely to hold the top post, becoming the first woman secretary in the bureaucratic history of Nepal.
Narendramani Acharya Dikshit, first foreign secretary. Courtesy: Pradeepmani Acharya Dikshit.
In 72-year history, all men
Towards the end of the Rana rule, there had been a Department of Foreign Affairs. Earlier, it was known as Jaisi Kotha or Munsi Khana. This department was named as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the end of the Rana rule.
The Ministry got both the minister and secretary. Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher himself shouldered the responsibility of this ministry and appointed Sardar Narendramani Acharya Dikshit as the foreign secretary. The Foreign Ministry received a total of 24 secretaries so far starting from (the tenure of) Narendramani Acharya Dikshit to Bharat Raj Paudyal.
Of them, four foreign secretaries -- Dikshit, Ram Prasad Manandhar, Shobhagjung Thapa, and Narpratap Shumsher Thapa -- served between 2008 BS to 2017 BS.
Similarly, eight officials became foreign secretaries during the Panchayat regime. Those who served as foreign secretaries are Yadunath Khanal, Padam Bahadur Khatri, Jharendra Narayan Singh, Bharat Raj Rajbhandari, Uddhav Dev Bhatta, Jagadish Shumsher Rana, Bishwa Pradhan, and Narendra Bikram Shah.
Likewise, twelve individuals have become foreign secretaries to date since the political change in 2046 BS (1990). They are Yadav Kanta Silwal, Kedar Bhakta Shrestha, Kumar Prasad Gyawali, Narayan Shamsher Thapa, Murari Raj Sharma, Madhu Raman Acharya, Gyan Chandra Acharya, Dr Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Durga Prasad Bhattarai, Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Shanker Das Bairagi and Bharat Raj Paudyal.
An officer who has become a joint secretary is eligible for secretary. Prior to Lamsal, two female officers in the Foreign Service got the opportunity to become joint secretaries. However, they could not become Foreign Secretary.
Bindeshwari Shah, first female joint secretary at the Foreign Ministry, and first female Nepali Ambassador.
They are Bindeshwari Shah and Ambika Manandhar (Luitel).
Currently, Sewa Lamsal and Rita Dhital are two women sitting joint secretaries at the Foreign Ministry. Of them, being the senior most joint secretary, Lamsal is going to become the foreign secretary.
Lamsal likely to become secretary this week
Section 87 of the Civil Service Rules, 2050 has laid down a provision, according to which first-class and special-class government employees will be promoted through a cabinet decision. Civil Service includes a joint secretary in the first class while the secretary and chief secretary are categorized as a special class.
The cabinet will decide on who is to be picked for the post of foreign secretary as per the provision of the Civil Service Rule.
The Civil Service Act (2049) has a provision for the promotion to secretaries. As mentioned in Section 19 of the Act, there should be a triple number of recommendations for vacancies.
For instance, if the posts of three secretaries are vacant, the names of nine joint secretaries should be recommended to the Public Service Commission PSC).
However, this time, one post is vacant, i.e., 'foreign secretary' only. Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should recommend the names of three joint secretaries to the PSC based on seniority for the promotion.
According to sources, the PSC asked the Foreign Ministry to submit the names of three joint secretaries for the promotion of secretary after Foreign Secretary Paudayal retired on December 5.
Accordingly, the Foreign Ministry has submitted the names of three joint secretaries based on seniority: Sewa Lamsal, Amrit Bahadur Rai and Krishna Prasad Dhakal.
Joint Secretary duo Rai and Dhakal in line for promotion to foreign Secretary after Lamsal.
Of them, Rai is the head of the North East Asia Division while Dhakal looks after South East Asia and the Pacific Division.
A promotion committee is formed for the promotion to the special category under the chairmanship of the head of the PSC or a member appointed by him/her in line with Section 20 of the Civil Service Act, 2049 (1993).
A member of the PSC, Chief Secretary, and a subject expert nominated by the PSC are members of the promotion committee while the secretary at the Ministry of General Administration becomes member-secretary.
Based on the criteria set for the promotion to the secretary, the committee recommends one of the three people for promotion. According to the decision of the PSC, the Ministry of General Administration recommends the name of the secretary to the cabinet meeting.
Lamsal is most likely to be recommended as she is not involved in any controversy. After the retirement of Lamsal, it is certain that Rai will become the secretary and Dhakal after Rai. Hence, they are not even in the race to become Foreign Secretary this time.
Lamsal with Prime Minister Prachanda and UN Secretary-General during the COP-28.
Prime Minister Prachanda is also very positive about making Lamsal the foreign secretary because he got the opportunity to make the first female foreign secretary who played a role in making Nepal's participation in the COP-28 a success.
Therefore, as soon as the PSC recommends the name, it is certain that the Cabinet meeting will promote Lamsal as Foreign Secretary. If the PSC recommends the name on Monday (December 11), the cabinet meeting on Tuesday will promote Lamsal to the post of Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
