16 June, Kathmandu. It is mentioned in the 258th budget of the financial year 2081/82 presented by Finance Minister Varshman Pun on Tuesday that the retirement age of the police will be reviewed.
‘Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department will be strengthened and made efficient and professional. A study will be conducted to review the retirement age of security personnel’, said the point. This item of the budget has once again brought the age limit of police personnel into debate.
Currently, the chiefs of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department are going on compulsory retirement at the age of 58. But all these three security agencies have been lobbying to raise the age limit to 60 years.
The age limit for civil servants is currently 58 years. 60 years has been proposed in the Federal Civil Service Bill pending in Parliament.
After proposing the age limit of 60 years in the Federal Civil Service Bill, both the police organizations lobbied to increase the age limit of the Inspector General. The police organizations are optimistic after the government put the age limit issue in the budget statement at this time.
At present, the age limit of Inspector General in Nepal Police is 58, Additional Inspector General (AIG) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) is 56, SSP and SP is 55 years.
In the draft of the new Federal Police Act, the age limit of Inspector General has been set at 58, AIG and DIG at 57, SSP and SP at 56 and the rest at 55 years. But it is also being prepared to modify it. According to the same preparation, it was announced that a study will be conducted to review the age limit during the budget speech on Tuesday, police officials say.
The police head office has already sent the proposal of age limit to the Ministry of Home Affairs saying that it should be different from the proposal of age limit mentioned in the draft of the Federal Police Act.
According to sources at the Police Headquarters, the proposal states that the age limit of the Inspector General should be increased from 58 to 60.
According to high police sources, the police head office has proposed to keep the age limit of AIG and DIG at 59, SSP at 58, SP and DSP at 57, inspector at 56 and others at 55.
The Police Headquarters says that this proposal should be included in the Federal Police Act. Similarly, it is proposed to remove the 30-year service period and retire only due to tenure and age limit. According to this proposal, if the Federal Police Act is enacted immediately, the tenure of the current Inspector General of Police, Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, will be extended by 1 year.
The Police Headquarters has also proposed to reduce the tenure of the Inspector General from 4 years to 3 years. Former AIG Vishwaraj Pokharel says that reducing the term of office is a positive thing because staying in the same position for a long time leads to a decrease in efficiency and corruption.
‘After reducing the term of office, the promotion process also became faster. This can lead to better results in performance. On the other hand, corrupt activities are also reduced”, said Pokharel.
The Armed Police Force Head Office had already sent a proposal to the Home Office saying that the age limit and term of office should be changed. According to the Armed Police Force Regulations, the age limit for Inspector General (IG) is 58, AIG and DIG are 56, SSP and SP are 55, DSP is 54 and Inspector is 53.
The proposal of the Armed Police Force is to amend this and make the age limit of Inspector General 58 to 60 years. In the draft of the new law, it is proposed to make the tenure of IG and AIG of armed forces equal to 3 years. Retirement age of IG has been proposed to be 60 years and that of AIG 59 years. At present, the tenure of the IG, AIG and DIG of the Armed Police Force is 4 years. In case of AIG and DIG, it is mentioned that 1 year can be added in 4 years.
The head office of the Armed Police Force had even proposed to introduce a term of office, saying that the tenure of high-ranking officers was affecting lower-ranking police officers.
Inspector General of Armed Forces Raju Aryal took the proposal to the Ministry, saying that although it will cause loss to some police officers for the time being, it will benefit the organization in the long run.
When Narayankaji Shrestha was the Home Minister, a committee was formed under the coordination of former Chief Secretary Lilamani Paudel to make suggestions to make the work of 7 agencies including police, armed police more effective on November 24.
The said committee also suggested that since the Armed Police Force and Nepal Police should be adjusted, a new law should be introduced replacing the existing law.
After that, last January, both the organizations submitted a proposal to the House regarding the service period, term of office, age limit of the police. Currently, the draft of the new law of both the organizations is being studied by the committee headed by Joint Secretary Bharatmani Rizal of the Law Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
After the proposal was submitted by the police organization, both the police organizations are hopeful that the proposal will be implemented as the subject of revision of the age limit is included in the budget.
Narayanababu Thapa, former AIG of the Armed Police Force, says that it is relevant to increase the retirement age from 58 to 60 years as it seems that bringing uniformity in the retirement age will send a positive message.
‘The age limit is not just 60 years old. If the 16-year pension period is implemented so that the demands of the lower ranks are addressed, the lower ranks will also get justice,” said former AIG Thapa.
