Macha Raja Maharjan, chair of ward 23 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, has not met Mayor Balendra Shah since April 3, the day the Chief Administrative Officer, Saroj Guragain, resumed duty.

Along with Maharjan, other ward chiefs say the mayor has refused to meet them as well, which has created confusion about size of the municipal budget, ceiling, policies and programmes.

“We are still unaware of the budget ceiling as of today [Monday],” said Maharjan. “It's fine if Mayor Shah doesn't want to meet us, but his arrogance is now affecting pressing issues of city residents. The mayor should not forget that we have responsibilities to fulfil and expectations to meet.”

It has been nearly six months since Mayor Shah last convened an executive meeting.

The last meeting was held on December 29. As per the Local Government Operation Act 2017, the executive meeting should be held at least once every month.

Ongoing conflict between Mayor Shah, Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol, and the ward chairpersons has affected both the municipal assembly and executive meetings. The monthly executive meetings have not taken place for the past five and a half months.

Section 17, Subsection 1 of the Local Government Operation Act 2074 states that "the executive meeting shall be held at least once a month." Also, the municipal assembly meeting becomes especially critical during the budget-making process.

“I asked the mayor for a meeting, but he refused,” said Maharjan. “We ward chiefs are ready to cooperate with Mayor Shah to resolve problems, but for that too, he needs to make space for dialogue.”

Earlier, 41 out of 42 executive members, including Deputy Mayor Dangol, had urged Mayor Shah to convene an urgent meeting of the city’s municipal executive.

Due to the failure to hold the executive meeting, the budget, which is legally required to be presented by June 24, has been thrown into uncertainty. There is also no clarity on when the city’s policies and programmes will be introduced.

Mayor Shah had sent Chief Administrative Officer Gruragain on leave on December 23, citing financial irregularities related to the approval of a construction plan for Kathmandu Tower at the Old Bus Park. However, the federal government did not replace Guragain with another official as Shah expected, and instead reinstated him.

The city office had deployed municipal police to stop Guragain from entering the office, but their attempts failed as Deputy Mayor Dangol, other ward chiefs, and staff close to the ruling parties—the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML— assisted him in resuming office.

Ward chairs the Post spoke to said that Mayor Shah has been affronted by their April 3 move to support the return of the suspended chief administrative officer.

“Due to a lack of regular executive meetings, important decisions regarding infrastructure projects and policymaking have been affected,” said KMC spokesperson Navin Manandhar. “As the mayor is the guardian of the metropolis, he should understand the urgency of the time. The budget-making process has been affected due to his arrogance.”

Ward chairs and metropolis officials said that even though Mayor Shah has not called an executive meeting, they have been doing their internal homework for budget-making.

“We ward chairs are holding meetings with people in our respective wards and are seeking suggestions on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-026, which should be presented by June 29,” said Manandhar. “The metropolis’ budget can be presented by July 16, and we hope the mayor will call a meeting by then.”

KMC officials also said that the bureaucracy has already drafted the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

“The budget will be presented at the executive meeting, discussed, and revised and passed,” said Dhurba Kafle. “We are doing our part.”

The Post's attempts to reach Mayor Shah’s secretariat for comment were unsuccessful.

Elected representatives have already sent two formal letters to Mayor Shah—on Chaitra 10 (March 23) and Jestha 12 (May 25)—urging him to convene the meetings.

The December 23 executive meeting had decided to convene the 16th session of the municipal assembly on December 29. However, no meetings have been held since.

As a result, new contracts remain stalled, payments for city pride projects are on hold, and new agreements for contract-based employees remain pending. Numerous proposals from wards and departments also remain in limbo.