A man looks on as his wife pulls a makeshift hut roof in Saptari district, on Sunday, August 20, 2017. Photo: Byas Shankar Upadhayay
RAJBIRAJ: The flood affected locals of Rajbiraj District have padlocked the ward office citing abuse of relief fund by government staffers and local representatives.
Hundreds of flood affected hit the streets of Rajbiraj Bazaar on Monday demanding investigation into the matter. Moreover, the rally came to a halt at District Administration Office and met with Chief District Officer Bhagirath Pandey to put forth their demands.
Saying that the employees of Ward office 5 received complaints of graft in relief fund and did not act on the issue, the agitated locals padlocked the Office last Thursday and have been staging sit ins at the Office.
The protestors have accused the then Ward Secretary Dipendra Roshan, newly elected members Partho Sarkar and Sangita Karna of abusing authority and depriving flood affected from the relief amount. Moreover, the locals said that the accused unethically put up their relative’s names in the list of flood affected people.
CDO Pandey, upon hearing the protestor’s grievances has initiated discussions with local and protestor representatives. Likewise, Pandey directed revision of the name-list of flood affected after site inspection such that no flood affected would be left out.
In the meantime, the protestors have denied to unlock ward office unless the genuine flood affected are ensured of relief fund amount.
At least 23 people were killed and hundreds of families were displaced in floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall across the Tarai region during August, last year. Rajbiraj Municipality’s ward office 5 also falls on the most affected areas.
In response, the government had disbursed Rs 25,000 to ward offices across the region for each flood affected.