BAJURA, FEBRUARY 4 Service delivery at Budhiganga Municipality in Bajura has come to a standstill after seven employees were suspended in connection with a corruption case related to the construction of the municipal administrative building. The disruption followed the filing of a case by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) at the Special Court against the then mayor and municipal officials. As per existing legal provisions, employees named in the case were automatically suspended. Those suspended include then sixth-level officer Narendra Nath, sub-engineer Ganeshraj Regmi, kharidar Shyam Bahadur Khatri, education officer Jayaraj Neupane, assistant sub-engineer Bhimraj Giri, assistant technical officer Siddharaj Jaisi, and administrative assistant Basanta Bahadur Thapa. Mayor Ram Bahadur Baniya said municipal services have been severely affected due to the suspension of key staff. He said the situation was aggravated after the municipality decided not to renew contracts of contractual employees this year. According to the mayor, major sections including education, administration, and technical divisions are currently closed. The municipality has also been without a chief administrative officer for the past month. Although Veterinary Section Chief Prem Jaisi has been assigned as acting chief administrative officer, he has not been granted financial authority. The Ministry had transferred Chief Administrative Officer Ammar Raj Joshi and appointed Bhoj Bahadur AiDi in his place, but the latter has yet to report for duty. Mayor Baniya said that although the organizational and management survey report has been approved, the election code of conduct has prevented the recruitment of new staff, forcing most municipal work to halt. The municipality said both daily administrative services and development projects have been affected. Meanwhile, the CIAA has filed a corruption case at the Special Court against former mayor Deepak Bikram Shah, 14 individuals, and a contractor company, concluding that the contract for the construction of the municipal administrative building was awarded by manipulating eligibility criteria in violation of the law, causing significant financial losses to the municipality. The CIAA has sought recovery of Rs 327.78 million along with prison sentences from the accused under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059 BS.