Meanwhile, some political individuals have made their signatures also mandatory for people seeking citizenship certification. [break]
“So many times have I told him that the situation here is quite normal and he should come back. But he shows no interest in doing so,” said Panchu Chaudhari, the office assistant who has been handling things at the office single-handedly.
Chaudhari has to travel 22 kilometers to the district administration office, often twice a week, to get papers signed by the documentation officer. “Normally 20 to 30 and sometimes as many as 50 citizenship certificates awaiting his signature pile up. After he signs them I bring them back here for distribution to the individuals concerned,” he added.
Meanwhile, Pradip Nepali, a local man, said he was asked to get the signatures of four local political leaders along with other necessary documents to get his citizenship certificate, although Chaudhari has denied that was necessary.
“Some local leaders told me that the signatures of four political associates was also necessary. I had to offer them tea and snacks besides paying them a little money to get them to put to down their signatures,” he said. However, he was totally in the dark as to whether the signatures of politicians was really necessary.
The regional office, which covers 16 VDCs in the region, was set up 15 years ago. Following the Madhes agitations of 2007/8, administrative officials and other staff had quit Rangeli for security reasons.
Later, when the situation returned to normal, they started visiting the office at least on a weekly basis. However, the weekly routine did not last long. They chose to stay put at the district office at Biratnager.
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