• Education Development Directorate and Health Directorate have more than 20 vacant posts

Dhankuta, May 31

Four province-level offices set up by the Province 1 government are facing shortage of staffers in Dhankuta. While manpower crunch has compromised services at the newly set up offices, one of them is yet to come into operation.

Province 1 government had decided last month to set up four province-level offices here in a conciliatory move amid demonstrations and demands to make Dhankuta the permanent provincial headquarters.

While services delivered by Health Directorate, Education Development Directorate, Food Technology and Quality Control Division Office are apparently affected by lack of necessary manpower, the Transportation Management Office has yet to start its operation.

“Our office was set up around a month ago with limited jurisdiction over four districts — Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Terhathum, and Dhankuta, but as there are few of us at the office, it has hit service delivery,” said the FTQCDO Chief Shiva Shankar Mishra.

According to Mishra, only three people have been staffed in the office at present. “Though a total of five positions are allotted to our office, only three of us — an office assistant and a food investigation officer and I — are at work,” Mishra said.

Transportation Management Office was inaugurated by CM Sherdhan Rai on May 12 to provide services, mandating it to serve residents of the four districts — Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur and Terhathum. Nineteen days after the inauguration, the office is yet to come into operation as a huge padlock hangs on its door.

As for the Education Development Directorate and Health Directorate, set up with the mandate to look after all 14 districts in the province, they have 13 and 14 employees, against allotted 35 and 37 positions, respectively. “As employee adjustment process was lengthy, it affected our services,” said HD Chief Bhogendraraj Dotel.