Kathmandu, September 15

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has received notifications from almost 25 newly elected local levels about the change of either their names or centres. The offices of the local levels are located in the centres.

MoFALD Joint Secretary Hari Paudel said the ministry was planning to take the local levels’ notifications to the Cabinet before Dashain .

Paudel said the central government had no power to alter the decisions of the local governments about the change in the names and centres of the local levels.

When the names and centres of the local levels were fixed by the Local Bodies Restructuring Commission, it was stated  that those names and centres were for interim period and the majority of the assemblies of local levels could change their names and centres.

A bill relating to local government which was endorsed by the Development Committee of the Parliament also states that the majority members of the assemblies of local levels can change their names and centres.

Paudel, however, said that the people of local levels had filed complaints at MoFALD against the official decisions of their local levels about the change of names and centres of their local levels. When asked if the MoFALD expected extremely high number of decisions relating to changes of the names of local levels and their centres, Paudel said in places where the parties winning majority in the local levels just had 51 per cent majority, then there might be dispute between the two sides.

Paudel said there could be more local levels which could change their names and centres.