Rajbiraj, July 14

Years after retirement from the post of VDC secretary at Mauwaha and Tarahi VDCs, Mahi Narayan Choudhary of Mauwaha, Saptari is yet to get his pension card because he hasn’t cleared all financial transactions during his service.

This is not an isolated case. Mahendra Prasad Choudhary who retired from Dhangadi VDC, Makhan Lal Sardar who retired from Kabilasa, Chandra Shekhar Safi who retired from Malekpur, and Hari Lal Choudhary who retired from Basawalpur have all been deprived of pension cards for the same reason.

According to Saptari DDC, a large number of retired VDC secretaries are yet to submit reports.

DDC officials said the reason was because retired officers were allowed to continue their service without submitting details of financial transactions made by the VDC even after they were transferred.

“There are cases where secretaries were permitted to continue their services in seven VDCs without clearing transactions of even one,” said officials.

An officer on condition of anonymity said the officials were compelled to allow such secretaries to continue their daily activities because of the pressure from higher authorities.

“Many people ignore the rules of the system for their own interests, leading to financial irregularities. Transactions of more than Rs 150 million are yet to be cleared at the DDC.