Stone-throwing at Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly amid student protest over contract law

Dhangadhi: Students staged a protest in front of the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly on Thursday evening, opposing the drafting of a law aimed at making contract service employees at the local level permanent.

The protest escalated as students surrounded the offices of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers, alleging that the government was making it easier to grant permanent status to temporary and contract-based employees. Demonstrators burned tires and pelted stones at the Provincial Assembly, expressing their dissatisfaction with the proposed law.

The protest was fueled by a provision in the report prepared by the Legislation and Provincial Affairs Committee, which was submitted to the Provincial Assembly. The controversial Bill, 2081, outlines regulations for the formation, operation, and service conditions of the Sudurpaschim Provincial Local Level, and is seen as favoring temporary and contract-based employees.

The bill, presented to Speaker Bhim Bahadur Bhandari, states that upon the first implementation of the Act, the Provincial Public Service Commission will exclusively recruit employees who were temporarily or contractually appointed in approved permanent positions before the Act came into effect. Once passed, hundreds of temporary and contract employees at the local level will have a legal pathway to compete only among themselves for permanent positions through a separate internal competitive examination conducted by the Public Service Commission.

Student organizations have been jointly protesting, arguing that the provision will unfairly benefit a limited group of employees and political workers, restricting fair competition.