Since the Maoist attack in Tansen in January 2006, almost all of the government offices have been operating from rented property.
PALPA, Jan 23: More than a dozen government offices in Palpa are running on rented houses. The offices have been spending a large amount of money for paying rents. Another problem for service seekers is that the offices are scattered all over the district.
'Singha Durbars' in rented houses
Various government bodies like the District Administration Office, District Development Committee, National Investigation Department, District Technical Office, District Survey Office, District Bureau of Statistics , Transportation Management Office, Tax Service Office, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank Ltd, District Agriculture Development Bank and many others are working under rented buildings in Palpa.
During the decade long Maoist insurgency, the then rebels attacked many places of Nepal among which one was Tansen. On January 31, 2006 Maoist attacked Tansen which resulted in the destruction of Palpa Durbar. Since then, almost all of the government offices have switched to private buildings. Even though the palace has been reconstructed, it has been developed as a museum now.
Nawaraj Baral, chief of the District Land Revenue Office said “We have been paying Rs 30, 530 monthly to the land owners and we have no other option as we don’t have our own building to conduct day-to-day official work.” As the government is not paying attention to their problem, many government offices in Palpa like the District Administration Office, Women Development Office and District Technical Office have already started making their own buildings. But many other government bodies are not able to do so due to lack of sufficient budget and available land.
It is really a tough task for the locals to complete a work in a day as it takes hours for them to reach various government offices which are situated in different parts of the same district. Government officials sometimes have to tolerate the unpleasant comments of some insensitive house owners. This issue has been brought almost regularly in the meetings of the government offices as informed by the sources.
Babu Ram Gautam, chief district officer of Palpa, said, “Various offices working from private buildings are planning to build their own offices with joint efforts.” District Technical Office has almost completed the construction of its building. Meanwhile, many other government offices are managing their budget and have started looking for proper land to construct their buildings.
