YCL padlocks Rail Office in Damak

By Lilaraj Khadka,Birtamod, May 17: Damak Municipal Committee of the Youth Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of the CPN-Maoist Centre, padlocked the Damak-based Rail, Metrorail and Monorail Development Project Office on Tuesday. 

"The padlock is a protest demanding an end to the unnecessary deployment of employees in an office which has done no work at all," said John Budhathoki, chairman of the YCL Damak committee.

Two days ago, YCL's central secretary and Koshi Province in-charge Dambar Pulami Karma had given a week’s ultimatum to shut down the office. However, Damak's committee padlocked the office on Tuesday.

"The office was established for the construction of the East-West railway two years ago by the then Prime Minister KP Oli. However, no work has begun to date. Why is it necessary to pay the employees who have no work?" questioned Budhathoki.

Meanwhile, the employees at the Rail Office informed that they have been working on a daily basis as per their responsibilities.

"Other than daily works, we have been marking the railway lines, releasing and acquiring necessary land and erecting pillars for the railway line," said Sanjay Panthi, chief at the Rail Office.

There are dozens of posts in the office, and of them, three are of the engineers and seven of the sub-engineers. 

"However, the office is currently operated only by a Non-Gazetted First-Class officer, two accountants and the office chief," said Panthi.

Panthi informed that the office informed the police and sought necessary support after the office was padlocked on Tuesday.