The major political parties represented in the federal parliament have reached an agreement to form a seven-member special parliamentary committee to investigate alleged tampering of the 'cooling-off period' provision in the Federal Civil Service Bill.

Santosh Pariyar, chief whip of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), said the parties reached agreement during a meeting held at Speaker Devraj Ghimire’s residence on Saturday. The meeting was attended by chief whips and whips of the five major political parties.

As per the agreement, the committee will include two members each from the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, and one member each from the CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

The proposed committee will be mandated to submit its report within 21 days of its formation. The Parliamentary Business Advisory Committee will finalize the names of the committee members and present them in the House of Representatives (HoR), Pariyar informed.

Earlier, the HoR's State Affairs and Good Governance Committee had passed the Bill with a provision requiring a two-year cooling-off period for civil servants for any appointment after retirement. However, the provision was reportedly altered when the Bill was tabled in the Lower House for final approval, allowing secretaries and joint secretaries for political or other appointments immediately after retirement. -- RSS