Owing to protests against the government by United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) with demands to amend the constitution, many municipalities and sub-metropolitan cities districts starting from Parsa to Saptari have not held council meetings.
It is mandatory for each municipality to prepare a new work plan through the council meetings by Paush-end [by Thursday] according to Nepali calendar. Municipalities could lose annual grants and government-allocated budget if such meetings are not held on time. Loss of grants and budget will have direct impact on development projects.
Municipalities are required to hold council meetings as per the Minimum Conditions and Performance Measures (MCPM) of grants prepared by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development.
Nagendra Yadav, an officer at the planning division of Garuda Municipality in Rautahat told Republica that the council meeting could not be held as the UDMF forced even government offices to close down during protests.
"The meeting has to be held in consultation with and participation of political mechanism. But some of the parties to the mechanism boycotted the council meeting," Yadav said.
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