Absence of secretaries hits 2,000 VDCs

Main responsibilities of a VDC secretary

Act as the head of VDC and perform all his responsibilities (due to lack of local body representatives in VDC since 2002)

Distribute Social Security Allowance

Certify kinship

Make recommendation for citizenship certificates and passports

Make recommendation for land ownership certificates

Carry out property evaluation

Mobilize internal resources in the VDC

Manage account of the respective VDC

KATHMANDU, Aug 11: The prolonged absence of secretaries in nearly 2,000 Village Development Committees (VDCs) across the country has deprived the locals of basic government services. [break]

300 retire under VRS, 200 positions vacant since the past three years, many others live in district headquarters.

The government´s latest Voluntarily Retirement Scheme (VRS) has further aggravated the situation as some 300 VDC secretaries retired under the scheme recently. An additional 200 positions of VDC secretaries have remained vacant since the last three years.[break]

Officials at Ministry of Local Development (MoLD) said over 50 percent of the total 3,915 VDCs are directly affected due to the absence of secretaries. Some 1,000 VDCs secretaries reside in their district headquarters. To make matters worse, 500 VDC secretaries each are forced to look after the responsibilities of additional 10 to 15 VDCs in their respective district.

Joint Secretary Dinesh Thapaliya at MoLD said VDC secretaries have been displaced owing to threats from various armed groups operating in the Tarai and eastern and mid-western hill districts. "About 2,000 VDCs are beyond government´s control due to the vacant VDC Secretary positions and the tendency of secretaries to reside in district headquarters for fear of extortion and in some cases life," Thapaliya told myrepublica.com.

People in the VDCs sans secretaries are deprived of basic government services such as VDC recommendations for citizenship, land purchase, registration of vital events like birth, death, marriage and migration. The absence of VDC secretaries has also affected distribution of Social Security Allowance to elderly, differently-abled and destitute persons.

Thapaliya argued that the government´s reluctance to fill up the vacant positions has compelled a single VDC secretary to look after the responsibility of 10 to 15 VDCs, thereby causing serious administrative vacuum at local level. "The government should give authority to appoint VDC secretaries to concerned District Development Committees (DDC)," he argued.

The local bodies have been without representatives since 2002. The VDC secretaries have been the prime target of armed groups as they manage local level resources and government grants to the VDCs. Altogether 23 VDC secretaries -- five of them after the success of democratic uprising in April 2006 -- have been killed at the hand of various armed groups including the former Maoist rebels. VDC secretaries have frequently been kidnapped and extorted, according VDC Secretaries Welfare Protection Center (VDCSWPC), an umbrella organization of VDC secretaries across the country.

Growing instances of threats, abductions and extortions, especially in the Tarai, have compelled many VDC secretaries to take refuge in the concerned district headquarters. MoLD officials say that a large number of complaints on various issues of public concerns had piled up due to absence of VDC secretaries. The most affected district, according to MoLD, is Achham. VDC Secretaries have been displaced in many districts in the Tarai and troubled eastern and mid-western hills owing to threats from various armed groups. The ministry´s record shows that most of the VDC secretaries are centered in Banke, Morang, Rupandehi, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts.

Keeping in view possible misuse of funds, the MoLD has warned VDC secretaries not to distribute social security allowances from the districts headquarters. "We have directed them not to distribute allowances from districts headquarters," Thapaliya said.

The VRS scheme has posed another serious problem. The government policy says that posts rendered vacant due to VRS will be scrapped. "If the same is true for VDC secretaries, the provision is likely to cause a serious administration vacuum at the local level," said Thapaliya.

However, the Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) said that it will review its policy in case of VDC secretaries. "The same policy cannot be implemented in the case of VDC secretaries," spokesperson at MoGA, Chandra Ghimire told myrepublica.com. "The government is currently working towards that end."