Due to internal disputes, the establishment of the office has not been possible, and residents of the lower reaches of Bajhang have had to endure long hours, high expenses, and hassles for administrative work.
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It takes two days to make a citizen of the people here. Including the cost of car rental, food expenses and hotel accommodation, it costs more than 12 thousand rupees.
This time and expense is applicable in the case of those who complete all the documents and procedures and get citizenship quickly. If the documents are not received and the process is prolonged, the expense also increases. Residents of Dahabgar, Kafalseri, and Pipalkot of Bungal Municipality in the district are facing such a problem.
‘Two people have to go, one to be a witness and to get citizenship. If the work is done on time, you can return home in two days,’ said Jaimal Dhami, a local resident of Dahabgar and former ward president, ‘If some documents are not received, it takes 6/7 days.’ According to him, some people have to go to the ward office three to four times if the documents are not received even after reaching Chainpur. He said that there were many examples of spending up to 80/90 thousand to obtain citizenship during his tenure.
Residents of Bitthadchir, Kedarsyu, and Thalara have been traveling for two/three days and spending thousands of rupees to obtain citizenship for years. On the other hand, the address of the area administration office that the government announced to establish to provide facilities to the citizens here is also unknown. The decision is pending due to disagreement among the locals of Kedarsyu about the location of the office. The dispute has flared up after the locals of Jhota, Deura, and Bagthala of Kedarsyu rural municipality took a stand that the office should be established at the place they said.
Former ward chair Dhami said that the residents of Kedarsyu are struggling because the residents of remote areas are arguing that if the area administration office is opened in their place, the value of the land will increase and business will flourish. ‘It would have been convenient if it had been opened sooner,’ he said, ‘We also suffered due to their greed that the value of their business and land would increase.’ The Ministry of Home Affairs has mentioned that area administration will be operated in 23 places including Bajhang in the current year’s budget. The Council of Ministers held on December 21 has already approved the opening of area administration offices in nine places including Bajura, Doti, Darchula, and Baitadi.
After the government moved forward with the establishment of the office, Jhota and Deurabasi had launched a protest program demanding that the office be located in their own area. They have already submitted a memorandum to the district administration. However, no decision has been made yet on where to establish the office. The dispute has flared up after the locals of Bagthala, Kedarsyukai, also demanded that the office be located at their own location. The locals had protested by blocking the road last November, demanding that the area administration office be located in Bagthala.
On the other hand, the residents of Deura are adamant that the office should be located in its own place as Deura Bazaar is close to the municipality including Bugal Bitthadchir. The locals of Jhota are pressuring the district administration to open the office in Jhota as Deura Bazaar is in the flood zone of the West Seti Hydropower Project. The Ministry of Home Affairs had initially issued a circular to the district administration to open an office in Deura, Kedarsyu. After the locals of Jhota put pressure on the ministry, another letter was sent to find out whether the office would be suitable or not.
‘After studying the feasibility of Jhota and sending it, the ministry’s letter came to reach an agreement between the two parties.’ When we facilitated, both sides agreed to accept the decision made by the ministry,' said Assistant Chief District Officer Satyakumari Joshi, 'But after the other side blocked the road saying that it would not accept the decision, the ministry could not decide that there was a dispute in Bajhang.'
She said that the residents of the lower areas of Bajhang had to bear a long time, high expenses and hassle for administrative work due to the inability to establish the office due to internal disputes. She said that since citizens are forced to spend two/three days and a large amount of money to obtain citizenship even when the state provides facilities, the political leadership should establish the office quickly by reaching an agreement among the locals.
Ain Bahadur Mahar, a member of the House of Representatives, said that he is trying to establish the office by reaching an agreement among the locals. 'No matter where it is, it will be in Kedarsyun. We are trying to remind them not to dispute among themselves and be deprived of the facilities provided by the state,' he said, 'An agreement will be reached as soon as possible.' If this does not happen, everyone should accept the decision made by the ministry. Everyone should take care not to lose the facilities they have received. He also said that he is discussing this with local political leaders and intellectuals.
