Kathmandu, July 29:

Efforts are on to fill the vacant positions of chairmen and vice-chairmen of remaining District Development Committees (DD-Cs). The majority of appointees comprises political workers belonging to Rastriya Prajatantra Party. While the government had last appointed DDC chairmen and vice- chairmen in 25 districts on May 12, the next phase of appointments is expected to be announced next week. Sources in the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) attributed the delay in appointments to the unavailability of “right faces.” Some claimed that the government was not in a mood to pick up “just about any one.” Sources said the government apprehends including the “wrong guys” could create problems for the regime.

It is not yet clear whether the government is filling up the vacant positions in all the districts or in just 30 districts. Observers pointed to the urgent need to have a mandatory board in place in the DDCs since the agencies are as good as defunct in the absence of the boards. The demand comes amid claims of the DDC being a defunct body since the existing team does not have the authority to take executive decisions in the absence of boards. A MoLD source claimed the next step would have even the boards in place.