Nara Bahadur Tumbapo, a permanent resident of ward 5 in Phidim Municipality, reached the municipal office at around 10am on Wednesday to pay land tax. But he had to leave without making the payment as the office was closed due to employees' protest.

Tumbapo’s house is around one hour walk from the municipality office in Phidim. “I urgently needed the receipt of land tax clearance to renew the bank loan. I could not pay the tax today [Wednesday] due to the employees’ protest. I have to visit the office again,” said Tumbapo, complaining that many service seekers like him were hugely affected due to the strike. According to him, he learnt about the protest only after he arrived at the office. “I was unaware of the protest. I wasted my time coming here and returning home,” Tumbapo shared his distress.

Karna Dwaj Lawati faced a similar ordeal. He walked for about half an hour to reach the ward office of Phidim-4 on Wednesday. We needed a recommendation letter from the ward office to acquire the citizenship certificate for his son. “The employees were staging a sit-in outside the ward office when we reached there. There was no alternative but to return home empty-handed,” said Lawati.

The hardships of Tumbapo and Lawati are not isolated cases. Hundreds of service seekers were deprived of various services as the employees of all seven local units in Panchthar, a hill district of Koshi Province, halted their works in protest.

All the employees working in Panchthar have been launching protests since Tuesday to protest police suppression of the agitating of employees in Kathmandu. The employees working in the local unit have been protesting in Kathmandu demanding speedy formulation of an integrated civil service act.

The employees in Panchthar started their agitation by forming an employee struggle committee. “We are compelled to launch a protest as the perks and benefits of the employees working in the local units are not clear in the bill,” said Saraswati Siwakoti, the coordinator of the struggle committee. The agitating employees have been demanding that the federal government stop handling the appointment and transfer of the chief administrative officers, who are appointed by the federal government and are stationed at each local unit, and ensure welfare funds for the employees working at local units.

The agitating employees in Panchthar started launching sit-in in front of the municipal office from Tuesday. Both the administrative and development works have been halted due to the protest. The municipality’s revenue collection, issuing of various recommendations, signing of project agreements and payment issuances have come to a halt.

Meanwhile, Phidim Municipality wrote a letter to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development on Wednesday and drew attention to the ongoing protest of the employees working in the local units. The letter signed by mayor Mitra Prasad Kafle and chief administrative officer Prabinhang Yonghang urged the federal ministry to resolve the issues through talks.