As the VDCs represent the state at the grassroots level, the dearth of the secretaries - the focal persons - for a long time has affected millions of people in the region.
While the government has failed to fill up the vacant posts in many VDCs for months, some of the VDC secretaries, who had fled to district headquarters during the Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006, are still reluctant to return to the villages. [break]
Out of 16 districts in the region, the posts of VDC secretaries are vacant in many VDCs of 13 districts.The post of VDC secretaries remain vacant in 25 VDCs in Bhojpur, 19 in Saptari, 14 in Siraha, 11 in Panchthar, nine in Okhaldhunga, six each in Sankhuwasabha and Terhathum, four in Taplejung, two in Dhankuta, and one each in Ilam, Udayapur and Sunsari. There are 896 VDCs in the region.
The local residents, meanwhile, cannot but hope that the government would shortly appoint the VDC secretaries as they have to wait for several days and even weeks to get their works done.
The VDC secretaries who are on the field also feel hard-pressed as they have to cover neighboring VDCs too.
Some of the VDC secretaries, who had fled to the district headquarters in the wake of the armed insurgency are carrying out their official tasks.
Asked why don´t they return to the villages, they say that the situation has not changed much as many armed groups and political outfits will now extort them if they returned.
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