Following widespread criticism, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has rolled back its earlier decision of buying cell phones for the elected ward representatives.

The KMC move to buy cell phones for ward representatives had set the social media buzzing with a flurry of comments, mostly with scathing criticism. 

“Respecting the people’s voice, we have scrapped the decision earlier taken by the metropolis,” said KMC Spokesperson Gyanendra Karki. 

A joint executive committee meeting of the newly elected representatives of the metropolis had announced last week that the metropolis will allocated Rs 3.5 million under their salary title to buy the cell phones. 

According to the metropolis’ decision, each ward representative “could purchase a cell phone of their choice at a price not exceeding Rs 30,000”.

The metropolis has a total of 40 elected members—32 ward chairpersons and eight additional representatives representing women and the marginalised community. 

“Even the representatives are not interested to buy new phone,” said Karki.