Bajura, November 5

Almost all VDC secretaries in Bajura have been carrying out official works from the district headquarters Martadi.

Locals said they had to visit the district headquarters even for minor work such as birth, death and marriage registration.

A local of Kanda VDC Dan Bahadur Rokaya said they were compelled to reach the district headquarters to search for VDC sectaries. Of the 27 VDCs and a municipality in the district, almost all VDCs have established their contact offices in the district headquarters.

Another local Dhan Rokaya of Dahakot VDC said they had to walk an entire day to reach Martadi. He complained that villagers had no option but to waste their time as well as money to reach the headquarters even for minor work.

Khadga Rokaya, another local, said the VDC secretaries were found in the offices only during the distribution of social security allowance.

Ramesh Bhandari, a resident of Rugin VDC, said the locals at Bichhaya, Wai, Sappata and Gotri, among other VDCs, walked for two days to reach the district headquarters even for minor work.

Meanwhile, the VDC secretaries said they were operating from the district headquarters as their office buildings, which were destroyed during the insurgency, have yet to be rebuilt. They added that it was risky to operate from the dilapidated buildings. The VDC sectaries further informed that a single secretary had to bear the responsibility of two VDCs.

Meanwhile, Local Development Officer Arjun Prasad Subedi said his office was unaware of the problem. He assured that the VDC secretaries would be deployed to their assigned stations soon.