The committee formed to recommend the municipal area declaration under Local Development Ministry (LDM) has worked out that only 9 municipalities out of 41 don´t need alterations for Village Development Committee to be included under new municipalities.[break]
The technical committee formed under the chairmanship of Surya Lal Amatya in 1994 had recommended to add 41 municipalities and gave the name of municipalities including municipality centers and wards to be included in village development committee (VDC) but didn´t recommend for the division of wards.
“The main problem for now is the division of the wards to be included in VDC. The earlier committee didn´t recommend division of wards so we are now receiving complaints from various wards across the country,” said Govinda Karki, under-secretary at Local Development Ministry.
The number of wards to be included in VDCs is under discussion. LDM had planned to implement the proposed municipalities before July 17. The committee to recommend on municipal area declaration under LDM has also asked the neighboring VDCs to give their recommendation to the committee if they haven´t been included in the newly declared municipalities.
“The task of forming additional municipalities has totally become a political issue where people belonging to Madhesh have problems if their wards are included in VDCs and vice-versa,” Karki said, adding, “People have their respective demands and choice in ward division.”
Karki informed that the members of the committee formed to coordinate and recommend the municipal area have already gone for inspection and field visits to resolve complaints in more than 31 municipalities.
However, the ministry officials claimed that the task of regrouping the wards will be fixed in a week. “We are trying to conclude the division and regrouping of wards as soon as possible,” they said.
The government had announced to form additional 41 municipalities in its latest budget as per the recommendation of the technical committee in 1994. From 1994 till date, many municipalities have been formed because of various reasons like rapid urbanization, migration and population growth among others.
For development and infrastructure of new municipalities, Rs 160.12 million has been allocated. Each VDC in the nation has been receiving up to Rs 1.5 to 3 million for the infrastructure development.
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