Kathmandu. Chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) Santosh Narayan Shrestha is on the verge of resigning after he failed to convince the Board of Directors and the Ministry of Finance over the demands of the protesting employees.
Chairman Shrestha was seen in a dejected mood during a discussion with the agitating employees at Sebon today. “He complained to the Sebon Board and the Ministry of Finance that the demands of the agitating employees were not listened to,” said a staff leader who participated in the discussion. This meant that he was not listened to. ’
The Ministry of Finance on Monday had invited SEBON Chairman Shrestha and other executive directors to discuss the employees’ strike. “However, in the discussion, the joint secretaries and secretaries ordered to implement the latest decision of the Ministry of Finance and to return the employees to work immediately. Shrestha did not meet Finance Minister Khanal,” the staffer said, adding, “Shrestha is now in the mood to resign.” ’
Issuing a circular on September 14, the Ministry of Finance had decided to cut down on various services and facilities that the employees have been enjoying since the establishment of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) and to return the amount of services and facilities used by the employees from the past till now and to recover the amount as government dues.
Likewise, the Ministry of Finance has issued the Securities Board Employees Welfare Fund Working Procedure 2071 and Securities Board Employees Security Fund (Operation and Management) Procedures issued against Section 22 and 116 of the Securities Related Act, 2063, Section 15 of the Legislation Act 2081, the Government of Nepal (Division of Work) Regulations, 2074 and the Securities Board Employees Conditions of Service Regulations, 2068. The court had ordered the immediate cancellation of 2075.
Employees of Sebon have been protesting against the decision of the Ministry of Finance for the last 15 days. The Sebon Employees’ Union and the Independent Employees Union have been demanding that the government withdraw its decision to curtail the benefits of its employees and maintain the autonomy of Sebon.
In today’s discussion, the agitating employees had put 2 options before Chairman Shrestha. “We had said that the board of directors should take a decision on this issue as the work procedure was prepared by the SEBON board of directors,” the employee said, “The other thing is that we had asked the finance minister to convince the board of directors to withdraw the decision of the Ministry of Finance.” However, Chairman Shrestha did not talk about it. ’
According to the staffers, Finance Minister Khanal is not ready to listen to Chairman Shrestha due to the situation created in the country in recent times. “He has come to Sebon as the chairman on the basis of political division,” the employee leader said, “That’s why he is not in a position to stay in the post as the political atmosphere is in turmoil.” ’
During the discussion, the employees also pressured Chairman Shrestha to resign and pave the way for their demands if the employees could not talk about their demands. “We have also asked him to resign, maybe in 1-2 days he will take a decision,” the employee said.
