Kathmandu. Employees of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) are doubtful that their demands will be addressed.
The employees, who had suspended the pen down program since Monday after a discussion with the Ministry of Finance expressed their commitment to address the demands, have started to become emboldened after no process to address the demands for 4 days today. In a meeting with the Ministry of Finance, the agitating Sebon employees returned to work after 48 days of suspending the pen down after promising to meet their demands by mid-November. However, they have continued their sit-in program for 1 hour daily.
After the employees returned to work, the Board of Directors of Sebon has formed a 3-member internal committee under the leadership of Joint Secretary Binod Bhattarai of the Ministry of Law to study the ways to address the demands of the employees. The committee was asked to submit its recommendations by Wednesday.
Based on this suggestion, the SEBON Board of Directors was said to write a letter to the Ministry of Finance urging it to address the demands of the employees. However, the Bhattarai-led committee has not been able to submit any suggestions to the board of directors till the end of office hours on Thursday, according to SEBON employees. “A meeting of the board of directors was called this morning but our demands were not raised in the meeting,” the employee said, “Therefore, there is doubt that our demands will be addressed within the deadline.” ’
The employees had started the protest from September 23 by disagreeing with the decision of the Ministry of Finance (Revenue Secretary) on September 16 and the letter dated September 20 to scrap the work procedure related to the employees of SEBON, to return the perks and facilities received as an employee in the past, and to take the consent of the Ministry of Finance on the issue of creating financial liability. At the request of the Ministry of Finance, they have postponed the pen down program.
The internal committee formed by SEBON includes Bhattarai and ICAN Vice President Ananda Raj Sharma Wagle and SEBAN Executive Director Binay Dev Acharya. “We don’t know what the committee is doing,” another staffer said, adding, “The committee has not been able to give its recommendations on time.” ’
The employees said that they have not yet discussed what to do as they have been given time till mid-November. “We will wait till mid-November, after which we will give them 1-2 days if they demand time,” the employee said, adding, “If our demands are ignored, we will start a strong agitation again from November.” ’
