The District Administration Office in Saptari has been facing a shortage of manpower for a long time now, affecting its service delivery. Chief District Officer Surendra Paudel has been carrying the work load of other staff besides his own. Paudel has been further burdened by several meetings and visits that he has to participate on a daily basis.

Two of the three positions for the administrative officer is vacant at the office. When administrative officer Ananda Kumar Thakur assumes his work, a long queue of service-seekers is already stationed in front of his window.

Out of 10 Nayab Subba (non-gazetted first class officer) positions allotted to the office, only seven seats have been filled. And only three Kharidar (non-gazetted second class officer) are appointed out of five alloted positions.

Paudel said there is a high chance of forged documents, particularly related to citizenship issuance, getting through the office unnoticed owing to the shortage of staff. The district already has a poor track record when it comes to the distribution of citizenship cards based on forged documents.

“Documents must not be authenticated and authorised without thoroughly checking their validity. But proper verification of documents has been affected due to the lack of staff,” said Paudel.