The two-storied building has eight rooms; the upper story functions as the municipal office while the ground floor is where the classes are run.

“It is difficult to run classes in these circumstances,” said Surendra Prasad Lamichhane, a teacher. “The building itself is in a dilapidated state after it was hit by heavy rainfall and storm this year. A new school building has to be built by the rural municipality.”

Classes for grades eight, nine and ten are run in the four rooms on the ground floor. The rest of the classes are run in a different building of the school that has 485 students.

The elected representatives, after the local elections two years ago, had decided to set up the rural municipal office at the school’s building, saying it was situated at a convenient location for the people of all wards.

The office has until now used the school building for free, but it has promised to pay a rent of Rs 20,000 henceforth.

On an average, over 70 people visit the office daily. During the closure of the fiscal year, the number of service seekers was at its peak. The crowd had disturbed the classes, according to Lamichhane.

“Both the school and the municipal office have been affected by the arrangement,” said Anil Trikhatri, chief administration officer at the rural municipality. “But because we don’t have any other option, we are compelled to run our office from the building.”

The rural municipality has disbursed a budget of Rs10 million to construct a new office building. The construction has not begun yet, owing to the dispute over the location.