PALPA, Aug 1: The local body offices are yet to get staff though it has already been a month since the local polls were held in Palpa. The District Treasury Controller Office had already sent the required budget to the local bodies including the salaries and allowance of the local body staff on July 2.
The District Coordination Committee, District Health Office, Women and Children's Office and District Education Office have already decided on their staf who would be sent to the local bodies but the selected staffers are yet to assume their offices. Chief District Officer (CDO) and Coordinator of Staff Management Committee, Baburam Gautam said that they are working on deputing non-Gazetted officers of other government offices to the local bodies. He said, "There has not been a decision on the designations of the staff in Agricultural Development, Livestock and Forestry and Soil Conservations district offices." The workers will only be assigned after the Land Revenue Office and Survey Office prepares a survey record on the local levels, said CDO.
Parties at odds over local level restructuring
Chief of District Livestock Office, Dr. Pradip Sharma said that the office will soon decide on its staffers who will be sent to the local bodies. An employee of the District Health Office said that despite being appointed to a post at a local body, he had to return from his office as he didn't find even a place to sit there.
Local Development Officer and Member Secretariat of Workers Management Committee, Ram Prasad Pandey said, "The government employees living in the district headquarters are dillydallying to go to their new offices at the local bodies as they were given 35 days to assume their new postings." He also said that he has also asked the elected local representatives to take the responsibility of this matter.
Bishnu Bhandari, the newly elected chief of Rambha Rural Municipality said, "I don't know how the local body staffers are going to be assigned without the appropriate physical infrastructure at the local body."
Nepali Congress' Palpa district president Bir Bahadur Rana said that he had requested the elected representatives to take the responsibility of assigning the staffers their jobs. Meanhwhile CPN UML's district chairperson Narayan Prasad Acharya said he had asked the elected representatives to prepare plans at the local level for development, provide services and economic development.
