Employees of Agnisair Krishnasawaran Rural Municipality in Saptari have not received their salaries for four months due to a conflict between public representatives. Teachers, health workers and employees of the rural municipality have not received their salaries since last July due to budget allocation and the dispute over the acting chief administrative officer.

They have been protesting repeatedly by blocking the rural municipality for their salaries and have completely closed the school since last Tuesday. All services except emergency services are suspended in the health institutions, while the ward office has also stopped functioning.

They have formed a struggle committee and are staging a sit-in in front of the rural municipality office. ‘Even though it is a problem to feed the children due to non-payment of salaries, no one has cared,’ said committee coordinator Dukhan Yadav. ‘Earlier, when we protested repeatedly, a date was set as per the agreement to pay salaries, but salaries were not paid.’ Coordinator Yadav said that the agitation will continue until salaries are paid.

The issue of their salaries has also become unclear due to the recent dispute in the rural municipality. A village assembly was organized on Asoj 5 amid the ongoing tension over budget distribution among the people’s representatives. After the agreement reached in the closed session held on Asoj 7 due to the budget allocation disagreement, Yogendra Prasad Yadav was sent to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration as the Acting Chief Administrative Officer. However, another dispute started when Chairman Dinanath Chaudhary, who reached the Liaison Office, Jandaul from the rural municipality, sent a letter again to send the Acting or Chief Administrative Officer based on the senior employee.

Earlier, the teachers, health workers and employees who were agitating demanding salaries had postponed the agitation after Chairman Chaudhary's assurance. However, since the salary collection process would be delayed due to the dispute over the Acting, they had warned of another agitation. The next day, Chairman Chaudhary also sent a letter to the ministry, appointing another Ayurveda employee, Sanjay Sah, as the Acting.

The ministry, on the other hand, was dissatisfied after the 8th level Ramesh Chaudhary was given the responsibility of financial transactions based on the senior employee. While he was still trying to get Ramesh to appear in the village executive, Vice President Kalpana Chaudhary and others had held a meeting of the village executive on Karthik 18. However, President Chaudhary did not show up at that meeting. Vice President Chaudhary says that he did not show up despite repeated calls.

The resignation was accepted in the same meeting saying that President Chaudhary had resigned on Asoj 5. The resignation letter of the president, which was accepted in the presence of 14 out of 15 members of the village executive including Vice President Chaudhary, states that Swachha resigned from the post of president, saying that he could not provide the necessary skills, time and energy for the post. However, President Chaudhary said that he did not resign.

‘According to them, they spread false propaganda by not making Nittima appear,’ he said, ‘I have not resigned, the signature on that letter is not mine.’ Now, President Chaudhary says that he will take legal action. The vice-chairman of the rural municipality is a public representative elected by the Nepali Congress and the chairperson is a CPN-UML member.