The Local Level Restructuring Commission has started fixing the numbers of local units on its own after consulting with the district technical committees from Province 2 as the Madhes-based parties did not cooperate for holding interactions at the local level.

The central office of the commission had directed the technical committees from the respective districts to submit their reports by November 5 after holding discussions with all the parties. However, the committees led by the respective Local Development Officers could not hold all-party discussions in the eight districts of Province 2 due to non-cooperation from the regional parties. The technical committees sent their reports on the basis of consultation with the leaders from the major parties, asking the LLRC to finalise the report on its own.

“Despite our frequent attempts, the Madhesi parties didn’t participate in the discussion,” Parsa LDO Bishow Prakash Aryal told the Post. “Now the LLRC will prepare the final report based on our recommendation.”

The technical committees were unable to hold consultations with the local stakeholders in Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha and Saptari districts due to non-cooperation from the Madhesi parties. Siraha is the constituency of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal who has been pressing the commission to submit the report at the earliest.

The regional parties, which support the incumbent government, are objecting to

the LLRC’s works arguing that it would be futile to restructure the local bodies without resolving the ongoing dispute over the provincial boundaries. The government had asked the commission to submit the report by mid-November. The LLRC now says it will try to finalise the report by November-end. “We are working on reports from all the districts including Province 2,” said a member of the commission seeking anonymity as the members have orders not to divulge details to the media officially.