Phidim, November 14 Residents of three village developments committees in the remote north of Panchthar held a demonstration in district headquarters Phidim today, seeking Oyam as the centre of the proposed village assembly. Hundreds of locals from Chyangthapu, Oyam and Phalaincha flocked to the headquarters by hiring buses and jeeps to protest against the ‘unfavourable’ provision in the recommended model of local bodies’ restructuring. Earlier, the district-based technical committee with the consent of local political parties had proposed Nangi, Tharpu, Oyam, Chyangthapu and Phalaincha under Yangwarak village assembly with the proposed centre in Tharpu-Mandreni. The demonstrators, however, termed the proposed centre as unfavourable to them. “A village assembly centre should also be practically the centre for people living there and in our case it is Oyam, not Tharpu-Mandreni, that could make the centre of the village assembly,” said the leader of the agitation, Nepali Congress Panchthar district member Yagya Prasad Bhattarai, adding that the proposed centre was almost inaccessible for the people of Chyangthapu and Phalaincha. Further, Bhattarai accused the technical committee and the political leaders of deciding on a serious issue behind closed doors without consulting the residents of the concerned area. “In fact, the proposal of the parties and the committee is faulty. So it should be rectified to make Oyam the centre of the village assembly,” he demanded. The slogan chanting demonstrators also rallied to the district administration office and the offices of the three major political parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN-MC to submit memorandums. They also picketed the district development committee office.