A total of 479 former staff members of the Narayanhiti palace in the Nepalese capital have no duties to perform since the abolition of the 240-year-old institution of monarchy on May 28 and are waiting the fresh directives from the government.
They have been attending the office at the palace-turned museum but without any work, although they received their monthly salaries as usual, a former royal palace staff said.
Nepal’s last king Gyanendra vacated the palace in June after the Maoists-dominated Constituent Assembly declared the country a republic in a historic decision.
“Now a days, I pass my time watching television programmes at the office,” said Sarad Bista, Under Secretary at the Narayanhiti Palace Museum.
Bista, former deputy press secretary at the royal palace press secretariat, is serving under the Ministry of General Administration like rest of the ex-palace staff.
They have been instructed to keep the records of the palace assets and look after the property, said a staff.