Third Reading on the Civil Service Reform Bill 2022 completed
The National Assembly today commenced its third reading on the Civil Service Reform Bill 2022. The Chairperson of the Good Governance Committee, Hon’ble Tenzin, the Member from the Khatoed Laya constituency presented the five recommendations of the Committee on the Bill. He also submitted the details on the consultations and stakeholder meetings undertaken by the Committee while reviewing the Bill.
The Civil Service Reform Bill 2022 comprises 38 sections under 4 Chapters on Preliminary, Reorganization, Effective Governance, and Miscellaneous Provisions. The House deliberated in detail on all the sections of the Bill along with the Committee’s recommendation.
The House held an intense deliberation on Section 8 regarding the reorganization of the ministries into nine ministries as Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock; Ministry of Education and Skills Development; Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment; and Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and supported it with a majority show of hands. Section 15 on merging the Department of Culture and the Dzongkha Development Commission with function as the Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Secretariat to the National Commission for Culture and Dzongkha Development also garnered an intense debate and was eventually supported through majority show of hands.
The House also directed the Committee to revisit the Committee’s recommendation on Section 31 taking into consideration the opinions expressed on it by several Members and report back to the House tomorrow before the adoption.
The Bill will be put to vote tomorrow, 10th November 2022.
