MUGU, Feb 10: Almost two years since the formation of the local governments, still a large number of local units in Mugu are operating from rented buildings.
There are three rural municipalities and a municipality in the district but none of them have their own building. Soru, Khatyad and Mugum Karmarong rural municipalities have not yet fixed their headquarters.
Most local unit offices still in rented buildings
Khatyad Rural Municipality has chosen Mathichaur as its temporary center and has been running its office in a rented house. Ubjan Bahadur Shahi, chairperson of Khatyad informed Republica that they have been paying Rs 30,000 in rent every month. Similarly, the temporary center of Soru is in Sorukot. As of now, the rural municipality has set up its workstation in the building of the then Area Forest Office (AFO). The local unit has also rented six rooms for Agriculture, Livestock and Health departments along with a training hall.
However, the contact office is being operated in a rented room in the district headquarters, Gamgadhi.
Furthermore, the temporary center of Mugum Karmarong has been fixed in Pulu. Like other rural municipalities, Mugum Karmarong has also rented a private house for its office. It has been running its contact office in the district headquarters. Initially, Chhayanath Rara Municipality had converted the building of then Shreenagar VDC into its office. Later, the office was shifted to a rented home in Gamgadhi after the representatives found it unsafe and far from the people's access. It has been learnt that the local unit spent Rs 198,000 in the fiscal year 2018/19 and Rs 66,000 in the current fiscal year so far for rent.
Due to the lack of own building, local units are spending a huge amount of their scarce budget on rent. It has been equally difficult for the representatives of various departments to work under the same roof. There are altogether 45 wards in the district and most of them have their offices in rented buildings.
