Chief Minister’s Contact Office in Dhankuta non-functional

By Kabiraj Ghimire, Hile, May 24: The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers’ Contact Office in Dhankuta has become non-functional. 

Amid the ongoing protests in Dhankuta demanding a permanent provincial capital, the then Province 1 government established the Chief Minister’s Contact Office in Dhankuta in April 2019 after making Biratnagar as the provincial capital.

The office was inaugurated with the aim of providing services to service seekers from Dhankuta, Tehrathum, Sankhuwasabha, and Bhojpur districts, so that they would not have to travel to the provincial capital. However, even after seven years since its establishment, the office has failed to deliver any services.

The office is currently being operated only with the help of an office assistant. Before federalism was introduced in the country, the contact office building used to house the former Eastern Regional Administration Office. 

At the time of establishment, temporary posts for an officer, a non-gazetted second-class officer, and two office assistants were created. 

However, since the office was not given any clear authority over its functions, even when staff were present, their only task was to forward applications received for the provincial government to the main office. Now, with no staff, even applications are no longer being received.

Due to the absence of staff at the Dhankuta contact office, located about 90 kilometres from Biratnagar, locals have not been able to receive any of the services or facilities that were promised at the time of establishment, said former MP Kusum Shrestha. 

She said, “People were misled by saying this would make it a kind of capital for the hill region, but citizens have not received any services from this office. The office materials have now become unusable, and the building is covered in mold and it is almost impossible to enter the office.”

The Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers in Biratnagar has stated that, as this is a temporary office, its staffing structure must be approved annually, and therefore approval of posts has also stopped. 

Inaugurating the office, then Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai had stated that the essence of federalism was decentralisation of power, and therefore the contact office was established in Dhankuta.  He had said that with necessary infrastructure and staffing arrangements, citizens from Dhankuta, Tehrathum, Sankhuwasabha, and Bhojpur would not need to travel to the plains to avail services. He also had announced that a Cabinet meeting would be held at the contact office every month.

However, so far, only one cabinet meeting has been held at the office, on March 26 2024 during the tenure of Chief Minister Kedhar Karki. 

Apart from its inauguration, former Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai visited the office only once. Similarly, former Chief Minister Rajendra Rai visited once to attend a programme. Subsequent Chief Ministers Uddhav Thapa, Bhim Acharya, and current Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki have not visited the office even once.

Locals accuse Chief Minister Rai of misleading the public promising that all services would be provided from Dhankuta.  Min Subedi, a local said that the historical significance of Dhankuta has been undermined in the course of federal restructuring. He added that even security personnel deployed at the office, five Nepal Police officers, have now been withdrawn.

Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Poudel stated that the facility is not truly a functioning contact office but merely a board.