LALITPUR: Some 1,200 posts of Village Development Committees have been lying vacant for several months across the country.

Ministry of Local Development is said to have urged the Cabinet and Ministry of General Administration to appoint secretaries in the VDCs at the earliest but to no avail.

"Our plea to the Cabinet to appoint secretaries by September end has made no headway," said Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, spokesman, MoLD. "VDCs, which provide service to a large population, have long been neglected." About 500 secretaries received golden handshake five months ago, aggravating the problem.

"People should feel the presence of government locally, as envisaged by the decentralisation policy," Thapaliya said. The void has hit citizenship certificate distribution, vital registration and development works in the VDCs. Social security allowance for the elderly and widows has not been distributed.

The ministry is drafting proposal regarding the fulfilment of the VDC posts, said Prem Uprety, under-secretary, MoLD. In Saptari, 29 of the 114 posts have been fulfiled. Taplejung has only 28 secretaries, instead of required 50.