People at Kanda VDC in Bajhang staged  a demonstration in front of border police post in Dhuli on Tuesday, demanding separate village council status for the VDC.

As a part of their protest to remove all government officers from the VDC to exert pressure on government, the villagers  gathered outside the police post and demanded that the security personnel leave the place immediately.

The villagers, who have been protesting under the banner of Kanda Village Council Struggle Committee, has asked all government offices in the VDC to leave.

The committee has also directed the local shopkeepers not to sell food and other essentials to government employees and security personnel. Man Bahadur Bohara, coordinator of the committee, said the shopkeepers who do not follow the directive will be penalised with fine of Rs 20,000.

Hikmat Bahadur Bhandari, the acting chief of the District Police Office (DPO), said the border police post at Dhuli will not be vacated just because the locals have made such demand. 

The DPO will supply food and other essentials to its personnel posted at the border police post if the local shopkeepers are refusing to sell, he added. 

The technical committee of the Local Level Restructuring Committee (LLRC) has proposed integrating Kanda VDC with the proposed Talkot village council. This proposition has been roundly opposed by the Kanda residents, arguing that they do not wish to be part of a village council if it is going to take them five days to reach the administrative centre. Kanda locals have been protesting for weeks now, demanding a separate village council status.

In the first week of December, 515 villagers had renounced their citizenships in protest after the technical committee of the LLRC turned down their demand and proposed Kanda VDC in Talkot village council.