GORKHA: Failure to appoint VDC secretaries in all slots of Gorkha district has compelled each employee to look after as many as four village bodies.

The district has 38 secretaries for 66 posts. LDO Raj Kumar Shrestha said the state was created since the Public Service Commission had not selected candidates for quite some time while some secretaries were transferred. Overloaded with duties, some secretaries have sought transfer even by changing their department.

Lal Prasad Amagain looks after Deurali, Dhunwakot, Taple and Ashrang VDCs while Bhaikaji Shrestha has been assigned to work for Lho, Borlang and Baguwa VDCs besides the registration unit of the District Development Committee. Prakash Sharma, Tanka Bahadur Adhikari, Keshav Raj Kafle and Rishiraj Dhakal have also been working for four VDCs each, according to the DDC. Twelve others have been taking responsibilities of two VDCs each.

Most secretaries said they had a one-roomed office for all VDCs. "It's hard for us to attend to a crowd of service seekers from numerous villages," said Rishiraj Dhakal, secretary for Taklung, Bakrang and Laprak VDCs. The situation aggravates when one of the secretaries is on leave. Since most officials have been stationed at the district headquarters, people need to travel long for every little task.

"We cannot ask them to go to villages since one has to work for many VDCs," a DDC official, Ishwori Prasad Paneru said. According to Rishi Khanal, president, VDC Federation Gorkha, the secretaries were performing the duties of elected representatives for long.