Disputes among the elected people’s representatives have paralysed the activities of several local units in Sarlahi, a district of Madhesh Province. The day-to-day administrative work and developmental activities have been hugely affected due to protracted disputes among the people’s representatives.

Political wrangling among local representatives has brought operations in three local units—Haripurwa Municipality, Parsa Rural Municipality and Chandranagar Rural Municipality—to a standstill. The offices of Haripurwa and Parsa have been padlocked for the past few days while Chandranagar has yet to present the annual budget for the current fiscal year of 2023-24. There are a total of 20 local units in Sarlahi district.

Haripurwa Municipality convened its annual municipal assembly a week ago. However, the deputy mayor and some ward chairpersons have been protesting against the assembly and the budget allocation. The employees and teachers in the municipality are also in protest, demanding perks and salaries.

Binod Sah, mayor of Haripurwa Municipality, claimed to have successfully convened the annual municipal assembly. Sah and some other people’s representatives supporting him have taken initiatives to release the budget through the District Treasury Controller Office. However, Deputy Mayor Sumitra Devi Gwarin wrote to the controller office to not use the municipality’s bank account. The office work at the municipality office and the ward offices have been halted due to the disputes between two groups of the people’s representatives led by the mayor and deputy mayor respectively.

The teachers of 16 community schools in the municipality have been staging sit-ins for the past three weeks by halting their works. Studies of students preparing for the final examinations have been affected. The students appearing for the Secondary Education Exam starting March 28 are the hardest hit by the teachers’ agitation.

The protesting teachers warned that they would continue their agitation until they receive their overdue salaries. “How are we supposed to provide for our families without salaries for months? We are left in hardships due to the disputes of the people’s representatives. Our sit-in will continue until our salaries are released,” said Sanjaya Kumar Yadav, headmaster at Keshwar Garib Janata Secondary School.

Haripurwa currently does not have the chief administrative officer. The developmental activities came to a halt while the service seekers have been deprived of administrative services. Even the senior citizens are unable to receive their social security allowance due to the agitation of the municipality’s employees.

Similarly, work remains stalled for the past two weeks in Parsa Rural Municipality after a group of people’s representatives padlocked the rural municipality office. Majority of the people’s representatives have been protesting with a 19-point demand.

“It has been two weeks since the office has been padlocked, but the rural municipality chief has not taken any initiatives to address the issue. We won't unlock the office unless our demands are addressed,” said Rakesh Ram, ward chief of Parsa-2.

The employees of the rural municipality are unable to carry out their office work due to the protest. The service seekers are deprived of various services including vital registrations and recommendation to acquire citizenship and passport.

Dhirendra Raya, chairman of Parsa Rural Municipality, admits that he has not approached the disgruntled groups for resolving the problem due to his busy personal schedule. “We will hold discussions with the protesting people’s representatives and resolve the problem,” Raya assured.

The situation in the Chandranagar Rural Municipality office is even worse. Even seven months after the commencement of the current fiscal year of 2023-24, the local unit has not yet convened the village assembly and endorsed the annual budget. The employees have not received salaries while senior citizens are deprived of the elderly allowance for the past eight months.

Of the total 15 people’s representatives in the rural municipality, three support chairman Raj Kumar Mahato while 12 are with Deputy Mayor Gita Devi. The local body could not endorse the budget due to the ongoing disputes between the chairman and vice-chairman. Mahato claimed that he attempted to convene village assembly several times, but could not do so due to consistent opposition by the majority of the people’s representatives.

As per the Intergovernmental Fiscal Arrangement Act, the local-level budget for the upcoming fiscal year should have been presented by June 25. Under the Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Act, the local executive can spend only a third of the planned budget until the budget is passed by the local assembly.