Big talk, no work

Published On: May 15, 2018 06:38 AM NPT By: Sarita Shrestha


DHADING, May 15: It has been a year since the formation of the local governments. As the elected local representatives could not accomplish much in this one year, they have received nothing but criticism. 

After the local elections, people expected that they would get to experience big changes in their localities. But to their dismay, that still seems like a far-fetched dream. Before the elections, the locals struggled a lot for government services due to the lack of elected representatives. So, the local elections came as a great respite for them. But the first year of the local governments has passed without achieving anything significant.

According to the locals, conflict of interest over the division of rights and privileges in the local governments is the major reason behind the sluggish development. Representatives of all 13 local units of Dhading have failed to live up to the expectations of the people. “The representatives seem to be favoring their ties and close connections while sanctioning budget for projects,” said a local, adding, “They should understand that they have not been given the position for working for their families and relatives but for all locals. So, they should be fair.”

 According to the locals, the budgets sanctioned by the local governments are not used based on the need of the locals but according to the interest of the political parties. 

Clashes between political parties have not only delayed projects but also obstructed the day-to-day work at the local units.

Also, the elected local representatives have not even been able to use their rights. “We thought the new representatives will address our problems sooner than later but that became a mere dream,” said Chidong Tamang of Lapa. According to him, the locals do not expect larger-than-life changes so soon but just want the representatives to start working. However, the representatives claim that they have not been able to implement their promises due to the lack of policies and unavailability of budget.

Though the representative had assured to develop Nilkantha Municipality as a smart city within the next few years, there are no signs of that so far. Manaraj Bhandari, deputy mayor of the municipality, said that the policies and plans have already been formulated and will be implemented soon. 

Similarly, the locals of Dhunibesi Municipality are equally disappointed with the sluggish work of their representatives. Likewise, the coordinators of the judicial committees have not been able to do their job properly due to the lack of proper working stations. 

Sita Dhungana, vice-chairperson of Gajuri Rural Municipality laments that the responsibility of delivering justice has been more challenging due to non availability of a judicial section. “But we can’t expect a judicial section when the local unit itself is operating in a rented room,” she said.

 


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