BAJURA, APRIL 22
Budhiganga Municipality in Bajura district has been without a chief administrative officer for nearly four months, leaving daily administration, financial transactions and public service delivery severely disrupted with only three months remaining in the current fiscal year.
Mayor Ram Bahadur Baniya said the vacancy has stalled essential functions including project approvals, budget disbursements, staff salaries and recommendation services. Important files are piling up awaiting authorisation, and development and construction works have come to a standstill. Several health facilities under the municipality have also been forced to shut down.
The administrative crisis is compounded by a staff shortage. Seven municipal employees were suspended after the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed corruption cases against the former mayor and staff members in connection with irregularities in the construction contract for the municipality's administrative building. The decision not to renew contracts for temporary staff from Kartik further thinned the workforce.
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration transferred then-chief administrative officer Ammar Raj Joshi in Poush 2082 and appointed Under-Secretary Bhoj Bahadur Aidi as his replacement. However, Aidi stayed less than a week at the municipality in Chaitra before leaving and has not returned. The ministry reappointed Aidi to the same post in the third week of Chaitra, but as of now he has not reported for duty, Mayor Baniya confirmed.
The vacancy has also left school-level services in limbo. Community schools have been unable to purchase textbooks for the new academic session, which has already begun, as the municipality has not released the required funds. Chandrakala Shah, head teacher of Dudhir Basic School, said sellers have been asked to provide books on credit, but the situation remains unresolved.
Mayor Baniya acknowledged the persistent challenge of attracting and retaining staff in the remote district. "Many officials simply refuse to come, and even those who do rarely stay," he said, adding that the municipality has repeatedly appealed to the ministry for a permanent arrangement but has received no response.
