The State Affairs Committee of the Parliament has passed a bill to sack government employees possessing Diversity Visa (DV) and Permanent Residency (PR) of foreign countries.
Once the bill, which was drafted to amend the Civil Service Act-1991, gets endorsed by the Legislative Parliament, the government will be able to fire any civil servant holding DV and PR.
Earlier, General Administration Minister Lal Babu Pandit had launched a drive to identify and take actions against civil servants holding DV and PR, but he faced legal hassles as the act does not specify that civil servants cannot acquire DV and PR. So, he had been lobbying for amendment of the act, even seeking support from President Ram Baran Yadav to amend the bill.
The amended bill purposes that civil servants can choose to remain in jobs if they express their commitment to give up their foreign residency permits within a certain period of time.
Similarly, the bill states that spouses of civil servants can hold DV and PR after informing the government about it.
Sources say dozens of civil servants, including high-level officials, are in possession of DV and PR while still active in the government service. A committee formed by the government has already prepared a list of such civil servants but their names have not been released.