Dipayal, April 15

Dipayal, the once bustling district headquarters of Doti, wears a deserted look with the number of people coming to the town falling drastically after state restructuring.

The government has provisioned to deliver 21 services from rural municipalities to the people. People of Doti now receive state services from rural municipalities itself and fewer people now come to the district headquarters for service, upsetting entrepreneurs and traders living in Silgadhi.

Dipayal Silgadhi bazaar is also the regional headquarters of the far-western region and was the centre of administration since the Panchayat era until the new federal set-up was implemented.

A local trader Ramesh Bhandari said the bazaar area was seeing fewer transactions with the drop in the number of people coming to the headquarters.

“Employees from both government and non-government organisations have started shifting to villages too,” Bhandari added.

With the change in the local bodies’ structure, political parties have also diverted their activities to rural municipalities and their wards.

Nepali Congress Doti President Pradip Deuba argued that the major goal of state restructuring was to bring people’s rights to their doorsteps.

The restructuring has

also reduced the number of people visiting places such as Achham district headquarters Mangalsen, Bajhang’s Chainpur, Baitadi’s Patan, and Darchula’s Khalanga.

Political activities have diminished at Kailali’s  Dhangadi and Kanchanpur’s Mahendranagar.

Both government and non-governmental employees have started shifting their  offices to rural municipalities.

On the other hand, people’s movement has gone up in rural municipalities, said Ram Chandra Joshi of Achham’s Marku.

Trade and business activities have grown at the centres of rural municipalities, while government offices have started renting houses. “We never thought this day would come,” said Tek Bahadur Singh of Kailali’s Chure Rural

Municipality.

According to Singh, villagers who had migrated to towns have returned to the villages.

CPN-Maoist Centre Doti’s leader Jung BK said state restructuring had put an end to the belief that one had to stay at the headquarters. “Parties have opened their offices and started assisting people from rural municipalities”, the CPN-Maoist Centre leader said.