KATHMANDU, March 18: Even as the leaders from Province 2 continued to protests against the federal setup, implementation of the local structure has gained momentum in most of the districts of the province.

Authorities in the district are busy setting up new offices as envisioned by the local level restructuring commission. As the new local restructuring has triggered curiosity among locals, government officials are also busy explaining them about the new structure.

"District Development Committee is gone. This has been converted into District Coordination Committee (DCC). My days are being spent explaining the new local structure to the locals," said Planning Officer Amit Giri of Parsa.

Along with this, the new structure of rural municipality is being implemented by including erstwhile Village Development Committees (VDCs). Most notably, signboards of old offices have been changed.

However, locals of Pokhariya Municipality have expressed disappointment over the dissolution of the VDCs. "It would have been better if the whole VDCs were created as a single ward in the municipality," said Sakim Miya, a local.

Parsa district, which had Birgunj Sub-metropolitan City, Pokhariya Municipality and 66 VDCs, under the old structure, now has 13 local units –  one sub-metropolitan city, one municipality and 11 rural municipalities.

Likewise, as per the restructuring of local government, preparations to implement three municipalities and 12 rural municipalities are ongoing as planned in Mahottari district.
The District Development Committee has been renamed as District Coordination Committee. Likewise, rural municipalities have been formed by including erstwhile VDCs.

"We have changed the signboards of previous local government structures to implement the new local structures. We also have changed letter heads and official seals," informed Local Development Officer Yuvaraj Paudel.

Likewise, bank accounts of old offices have been frozen for a few days after the change in the names, he added. According to the DCC, officials have been appointed at rural municipalities and they have already started their work.

In Jajarkot, locals have organized inauguration of one municipality in two places. Inauguration of Tribeni Nalgad Municipality was organized in two places after locals disputed over the location of the municipal office. Although a local technical committee had recommended the central office to be opened at Khagenkot Dalli, the government has instructed to open the office in the existing VDC office, leading to the dispute.

(Republica correspondent Ritesh Tripathi from Birgunj, Janak KC from Janakpur, and Mahesh Kumar Das from Mahottari contributed to the report)
 

 
• province 2
 
• local structure
 
• momentum