The VDC secretaries said they are compelled to leave villages owing to tremendous pressure to distribute ID cards and relief amount to “fake” households. They claimed some miscreants attempted to assault them and also threatened to kill them while executing their works.

The VDC secretaries started returning to the district headquarters as some villagers warned of physical action if the secretaries deny verifying household property division. The government has started issuing ID cards and providing each household with Rs 15,000 to purchase galvanised zinc sheets for temporary shelters.

“I am ready to quit the job but won’t return to the village at any cost. Job cannot be greater than life. I ran away as some persons came from Kathmandu and threatened to decapitate me brandishing khukuris,” said Prakash Chapagain, Sunkhani VDC secretary. He said some “fake” quake survivors who own houses in the Capital attempted to assault him for denying them the relief amount.

Likewise, Thulosirubari VDC Secretary Durga Prasad Dhungel also left for Chautara after local political parties demanded relief amount people who own houses in Kathmandu. “We cannot work against government directives,” Dhungel said.

According to the District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC), Rs 230 million has been released for quake victims. Local Development Officer Mahesh Baral complained that it has been very difficult to distribute the ID cards owing to the non-cooperation of political parties in the local level.

Baral informed that 100,000 ID cards were sent to two municipalities and 59 VDCs across the district. “We are yet to dispatch ID cards in nine other VDCs. It seems that the number of households will exceed 150,000 in the district,” he said.

As per the National Census 2011, the district had only 66,648 households.