HETAUDA: The scheduled works have been affected due to lack of staff in Province 3 Secretariat as employees assigned to the Province fail to report to duty.

According to Joint Secretary at the Secretariat, Adhi Raj Rai, the staff assigned for duty by the General Administration Ministry have yet to report for work resulting in a manpower crunch.

“The Secretariat is facilitated with 28 employees out of which only five have reported till now,” Rai said.

Although the preparations for training the employees on works in the Secretariat have been made, the work flow has been disrupted due to absence of employees.

“The Secretariat is in need of an under-secretary, section officer, accountant, non-gazette first class officer and computer operator among others,” Rai added.

In this backdrop, the Province Secretariat has dispatched a letter briefing the Federal Secretariat on absence of the assigned employees.

“In light of the upcoming House Speaker elections slated for February 10, 2018 and the subsequent elections of Deputy Speaker, Chief Minister, we are in need of many employees,” Section Officer, Binod Poudel said.

Likewise, after the commencement of Provincial Assembly, five ministries along with Office of the Chief Minister have already come into operation. However, the staff have not reported at the respective ministries.

Furthermore, the General Administration Ministry has informed that it has dispatched 207 employees along with an under-secretary to handle the works in Province 3. However, none but two secretaries and five under-secretaries have reported to duty till date leaving the ministry with backlog.