Nepal, May 9 -- There are two contradictory macro-narratives in discourses about Nepali bureaucracy. The first depicts the bureaucracy as a permanent establishment with powers challenging political representatives. This narrative fits with politicians' consistent rant about the all-powerful karmachari tantra. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's recent ire against a typist-a relatively junior bureaucrat-for the last-minute changes in the Federal Education Bill underscores the entrenched belief in the all-powerful bureaucratic "deep state". The second narrative, seemingly at odds with the first, consists of a politicised bureaucracy that is subservient to politicians, colluding and co-opting with them for private gains. News portals frequen...