With hardly a month left for the Local Level Restructuring Commission (LLRC) to finalise its recommendations on the restructuring of the local bodies, only half of the 75 districts have sent in their reports as the extended deadline for the technical committees ended on Friday.

The commission had extended the deadline of the district-level technical committees till September 16 from August-end owing to disputes at the local level over the number of local units. However, only 38 out of the 75 districts met the extended deadline while the rest are still struggling to finalise the numbers of local units.

The commission has set 565 as the total number of local bodies across the country under which the number of those in a district ranges from three to 10 on the bases of geography and population.

The technical committees, however, are finding it hard to forge consensus on the numbers set by the commission since the Nepali Congress and the Madhes-based parties are against it. The prime minister’s party, CPN (Maoist Centre), has not publicised its formal position though it stands for increasing the number of local units.

Committee Chairman Bala-nanda Poudel said any further delay means “we won’t be able to finalise our recommendations on time”. Though the LLRC’s tenure ends in March next year, the government has asked it to submit the report by mid-October, in order for the local elections announced for March. The Election Com-mission has asked the government to clear all the hurdles four months in advance.

Poudel said they are expecting the reports from 33 more districts shortly but the main problem lies in four Tarai districts as the technical committees in Siraha, Sarlahi, Mahottari and Bara have been unable to hold preliminary discussions amid obstruction from the regional parties.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had assured the LLRC of resolving the disputes in the districts in consultation with all the parties. However, his back to back foreign trips are sure to affect the works. The agitating Madhesi parties have been demanding dissolution of the commission saying that it was useless to restructure the local bodies before settling the row over provincial boundaries.

“This is a political issue which cannot be resolved by the LLRC alone. It’s the government that should find a way out,” he said. According to the commission, eight districts have flouted the given limit while three have recommended fewer units. Doti and Achham have recommended 11 units instead of six and eight, respectively, and Lalitpur has suggested eight units against six as fixed by the commission. Rukum has recommended 10 units instead of seven, Jumla eight instead of seven, Mugu six instead of seven and Dolpa six instead of five.

Citing that the ceiling of 565 units would be crossed if the recommendations from these districts are endorsed, the commission has returned the reports for readjustment.