Lalitpur, May 28:

Eighteen secretaries of rural VDCs in Lalitpur, who are serving from the headquarters for more than two years, are waiting for a response from Maoists to get back to their respective villages.

They have been discharging their duties from the headquarters citing conflict and unfavourable situation in the countryside after the term of elected local representatives expired in 2002.

“We went to our respective villages after the announcement of a ceasefire in January 2003, but returned to the district headquarters after the breakdown of the truce,” said Shambu Ghimire, secretary of Nallu VDC.

Representatives of the seven-party alliance, CDO, LDO and VDC secretaries held a meeting recently.

They decided to return to the villages to provide services to the people in their doorsteps.

Narahari Baral, local development officer of the Lalitpur DDC, said, “Political leaders have asked us to execute development works directly from the villages.”

Leknath Bhusal, secretary of Gimdi VDC, said: “The current situation is unfavourable for both the service seekers as well as providers since most of the secretaries have not even been able to visit the VDCs for which they are working. But we are waiting for the Maoists’ response on this matter.”