Kathmandu, July 26 -- Prime Minister Balendra Shah's push to overhaul Nepal's bureaucracy has triggered growing unease among civil servants, with incumbent and former officials warning of declining morale, deepening mistrust and uncertainty over the future of the country's administrative system.

A proposed Civil Service Bill that would force retirement at 55 years of age or after 30 years of service could send nearly 10,000 civil servants home before they reach the existing retirement age. At the same time, bureaucrats say political advisers and members of the prime minister's secretariat are bypassing formal administrative channels and issuing instructions directly to senior officials, eroding long-established institutional norms.

The ...