Kathmandu, September 26:

The Village Development Committee Employees’ Association Nepal (VDCEAN) has demanded permanent appointment for employees working in all VDCs throughout the country.

“We will launch strong protest programmes right after Tihar if the government remains indifferent to our demand,” said Rajendra Gautam, the president of the VDCEAN. He was addressing a press conference here today.

“Jobs of some 10,000 employees of the VDCs are under threat as the government has said that their term would not be extended after December 12, 2006.”

The VDCEAN has demanded that the directive given by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for either filling up vacant posts by permanent staffers or scrapping the posts should be nullified, the benefits for the local bodies’ employees should be equal to that of civil servants and an end to all forms of discrimination against VDCs employees.

“All the VDCs should be transformed to an autonomous body and the local bodies should be allowed to use all their resources respectively,” Gautam said.

The Chitwan Declaration of the VDCEAN has stated that the government should strengthen the VDCs as they are the actual component of the government that people of grass-root level experience. The declaration has demanded the Nepal Government bring in lasting peace in the country by forming an all-party government, including the CPN-Maoist.

They have also demanded a creation of the district and village governments while restructuring the state and providing all power to the local government. The local bodies should be authorised to levy taxes on local resources, they demanded.