DAMAK, Jan 1: On Friday, Nagendra Bhandari, the ward chief of Gauradaha Municipality-1, Jhapa was not available at his workplace. Service seekers had to wait for a long time. However, Bhandari managed to arrive before they returned. He informed the locals that he had to spend the day resolving a domestic issue. In fact, that has been his regular routine for the last six months after getting elected in the local elections held last year.

 "From early mornings to late evenings, I am busy reconciling disputes and fights between the locals and their families," said ward chief Bhandari, adding, "I would not have been so occupied if some people had taken efforts to settle their minor issues on their own." Being the regional secretary of CPN-UML, he is also expected to resolve the issues of his party members. According to him, this is the major reason why he has not been able to concentrate on a formulation of policies and implementation of plans. 

Nabin Baral, ward chief of Damak-3 has a similar story to tell. "I am solving the issues of not only the locals but also the Bhutanese refugees and many others. I have to reach the police station and the houses of locals almost every day," he said. 

  "I have been wasting my time in resolving the fights between couples, settling family disputes over property, among others," Baral laments. He has assigned the ward members with their duties and now wants to think about development related activities in the ward. "We are planning to form a justice committee with the coordination of women leaders," Baral said adding," I hope I won't have to be involved in such issues after that."

Earlier, locals had to reach the municipality office to get their problems resolved but after the formation of the federal government, they have been doing so in their own ward offices. Though the locals have been widely benefited by this, it has been a little bit of a headache for the new representatives especially because they are yet to assign all the members and officers with their responsibilities. 

 
• months
 
• local
 
• rep
 
• busy
 
• settling
 
• family