AMID FEAR, 20 PERCENT VDC SECRETARIES STILL HAVEN’T RETURNED FOR WORK Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: About 20 per cent of the secretaries at the village development committees have not returned to their assigned places due to lack of working environment, insecurity and extortion, The Himalayan Times reports. According to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD), some 600 VDCs are running without secretaries. There are 3,915 VDCs in 75 districts across the country. Every year the government allocates a budget ranging from Rs 1.5 million to Rs 3 million to each VDC. The VDCs have been running with a non-gazetted employee of the civil service for the past 11 years after political parties failed to make consensus to hold the local body elections. At least 47 representatives were elected in each VDC to run them. VDC secretaries dread to return to their workplaces as there is no working environment at the local level, according to the MoFALD. There are instances where one secretary has been working for five VDCs in some districts and they have been bearing the brunt when one person is sometimes invol-ved in five criminal gangs for extortion, said Damodar Rijal, chairman of the VDC Secretaries Rights Protection Centre. “Incidents of extortions and ransom are rife in eastern districts, Tarai and even in mid hills,” he said. A total of 18 VDC secretaries were killed during the 10-year Maoist armed conflict. The conflict ended with the 12-point Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) in 2005. However, eight VDC secretaries were killed in the last six years after the agreement was signed. It is reported that the VDC secretaries are involved in the misuse of development funds allocated for the VDCs. The representatives of political parties have forced them to embezzle the government coffer. For instance, a secretary of Patle Model VDC in Okhaldhunga sold the VDC office and its public land against rules. He has also been accused of involving in rampant misuse of development and social security funds of the VDC with the help of the political parties. In this regard, a complaint has been recently lodged at the Prime Minister’s Office. Rijal admitted that the secretaries in some hilly and Tarai districts were forced by underground outfits and political parties to distribute equal budget allocated for the VDCs to them. “We urge the government and political parties to hold local elections and compensate the victims,” he said. The MoFALD assigned the secretaries to run the VDCs after the direction of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority to reduce misuse of funds in the involvement of political parties about a year ago. Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, spo-kesperson for the MoFALD, conceded that the insecurity, lack of working environment including lack of coordination of districts with VDCs and single secretary handling multiple VDCs. “The first solution is holding the local election. If it is not possible, the existing mechanisms should be made effective,” he said. nnnn MEDIA GOOGLE “Major leaders of the big three parties deliberately failed the Constituent Assembly to abort the issues of federalism and inclusion and the United Democratic Mahadhesi Front leaders became a party to their conspiracy.” (MJFN Chairman Upendra Yadav, the Himalayan Times, 22 Aug.) nnnn