Pradesh Lok Sewa Aayog: All 7 Provincial Public Service Commissions

A Pradesh Lok Sewa Aayog, in English the Province Public Service Commission (provincial PSC), is a constitutional body established in each of Nepal's seven provinces to recruit staff for government service on the basis of open, merit-based competition. It performs, at the provincial level, the same core function that the federal Public Service Commission (Lok Sewa Aayog) performs for the central government: conducting written and practical examinations, interviews, and preparing ranked recommendation lists for appointment and promotion.

The provincial commissions were created by Nepal's shift to federalism. After the Constitution of Nepal 2072 was promulgated on 20 September 2015 (3 Ashwin 2072 BS), the country was reorganised into three tiers of government: federal, provincial and local. Because the provinces and the 753 local governments (municipalities and rural municipalities) now employ their own staff, a separate recruitment authority was needed for each province rather than routing every appointment through the single federal commission in Kathmandu.

It is important not to confuse the seven provincial commissions with each other or with the federal PSC. Each is a distinct legal body with its own act, rules, chairperson, members, budget, office and web portal. A vacancy advertised by the Bagmati provincial commission, for example, is not the same as a federal Loksewa vacancy, and candidates must apply through the correct portal for the level and jurisdiction of the post.

The provincial commissions rest on Article 244 of the Constitution of Nepal 2072, which appears in Part 23 ("Public Service Commission") alongside the provisions for the federal commission. Article 244 is short but foundational, and it is worth reading in full because it shapes how the seven bodies operate.

Article 244 provides: (1) "Each State shall have a State Public Service Commission." (2) "The functions, duties and powers of the State Public Service Commission shall be as provided for in the State law." (3) "The Federal Parliament shall, by law, determine grounds and standards for the purposes of clause (2)." In the constitution's terminology "State" (pradesh) means province. So Article 244 both guarantees a commission in every province and leaves the detailed design to provincial legislation, within common standards set by federal law.

This division explains why the seven commissions are broadly similar but not identical. Each provincial assembly enacted its own Province Public Service Commission Act (mostly in 2076 BS / 2019-2020) and accompanying rules to set up its commission, define eligibility, and regulate examinations, while a federal framework law provides the shared criteria referred to in Article 244(3). The federal commission itself is governed by Articles 242 and 243, which is a separate constitutional foundation from Article 244.

The table below and the list that follows give the official web portal and head-office city for each province's commission. Web addresses use the province's own government sub-domain (province name followed by gov.np). Because Nepal's e-government domains are occasionally reorganised, if a link does not load, search the province government portal or the federal PSC site for the current address before assuming a page is genuine.

Head-office cities generally match the province capital, with one nuance: in Sudurpashchim the constitutional province capital is Godawari, but the commission and most provincial offices operate out of the larger nearby city of Dhangadhi in Kailali district. In Karnali the office is in Birendranagar, which is the province capital and lies within Surkhet district, so "Surkhet" and "Birendranagar" refer to the same place.

The distinctive feature of the Pradesh Lok Sewa Aayog is that it recruits for two tiers at once: the provincial government and the local governments inside that province. This is a deliberate choice under Nepal's federal design, because most municipalities and rural municipalities are too small to run their own competitive examinations, so the provincial commission handles recruitment on their behalf.

In practice a provincial commission advertises and examines for entry-level and mid-level positions such as administrative assistants, officers (adhikrit), engineers, sub-engineers, health workers (including auxiliary health workers and staff nurses at local-level institutions), agriculture and livestock technicians, and other technical and non-technical roles that fall under provincial or local jurisdiction. Vacancies are typically grouped by level (for example Assistant Fourth/Fifth level and Officer levels) and released through an annual recruitment calendar (barshik karyatalika).

Because staffing needs differ, the mix and number of posts vary from province to province and year to year. Candidates should always read the specific vacancy notice for the eligibility, service group, and reservation details that apply, rather than assuming the pattern from one province or from federal Loksewa carries over.

The single most common source of confusion is treating "provincial Loksewa" and "federal Loksewa" as the same exam. They are separate systems with separate advertisements, application portals, syllabi and appointing authorities. The federal Public Service Commission (psc.gov.np), headquartered at Kamalpokhari in Kathmandu, recruits for the federal civil service and many central government bodies, while each provincial commission recruits only for its own province's provincial and local posts.

Jurisdiction is the key dividing line. A federal appointment can post you anywhere in Nepal within the federal service; a provincial appointment keeps you within that province's provincial or local administration. This means a candidate who wants a job in, say, Bagmati's provincial or local government applies to the Bagmati provincial commission, whereas someone targeting a federal ministry post applies to the federal PSC, even if both examinations happen in the same year.

There are also practical differences. Syllabi, exam patterns and question weighting are set independently, so preparation material for the federal exam does not fully match a provincial exam, though there is broad overlap in general subjects. Application fees, age limits and reservation/inclusion rules are governed by each province's own act and rules within the common federal standards. Candidates frequently apply to more than one commission in the same cycle, which is allowed, but each application must be filed separately on that commission's portal by its own deadline.

The application process is broadly similar across all seven provincial commissions and mirrors the federal system, because they share the online-recruitment model of the Nepal PSC ecosystem. Most provinces run an online recruitment portal where you create a permanent candidate profile once and then apply to individual vacancies as they open.

As a general workflow: identify the correct commission for the level and location of the post you want; register a candidate profile on that province's official portal; watch the province's annual recruitment calendar and individual vacancy notices for eligibility, service group and deadlines; submit the online form and pay the fee within the notice period; and then follow the notices for admit cards, written examination centres, results and interview schedules. Keep copies of your application and payment receipt.

Because dates, fees, post counts and portal addresses change every cycle, this article deliberately avoids quoting live vacancy numbers or fee amounts. Always verify current details on the specific province's official portal or the federal PSC site before applying, and be cautious of unofficial websites and social-media groups that reproduce notices, since only the government portals are authoritative.