Dailekh has now gone nearly a month without a Chief District Officer, leaving the District Administration Office to function under the charge of an Assistant CDO. The post fell vacant after then-CDO Anand Saru was transferred from the district, and even though the Dashain festival has concluded and Tihar is fast approaching, no replacement has been sent to take charge. With the district's top administrator absent, daily public services, the management of peace and security, routine administrative work and the distribution of staff salaries, relief and compensation have all been affected, while local residents report growing difficulty in completing even ordinary administrative tasks.

Vacancy created by transfer, replacement still awaited

The problem began when Anand Saru, who was serving as the Chief District Officer of Dailekh, was transferred. In the weeks since, the District Administration Office has continued to operate under an Assistant CDO holding charge in an acting capacity. As reported by RatoPati, the wait for a new CDO has stretched well beyond the transfer itself, with no successor arriving even as the festive season moved from Dashain to the approach of Tihar.

The vacancy matters because of the central role the position plays. In Nepal's administrative structure, the Chief District Officer heads the District Administration Office and acts as the government's principal representative at the district level. The CDO is the lead authority for maintaining law and order, coordinating with the police and other security agencies, and clearing a wide range of administrative decisions that require the office's sanction. An Assistant CDO can keep the office running from day to day, but matters that call for the CDO's authority and signature inevitably accumulate in the absence of a substantive chief.

Public services and security management hit

According to Khabarhub, the leadership vacuum is being felt across the office's core functions. The areas affected include:

  • Daily public services, as residents visiting the District Administration Office find their work taking longer to complete
  • Peace and security, with the district left without its chief administrator to lead and coordinate security arrangements
  • Routine administrative work, including files and decisions that depend on the CDO's approval
  • The distribution of staff salaries, relief and compensation, which has been disrupted by the absence of the office's head

Salaries, relief and compensation stuck

Among the most immediate consequences is the disruption to the distribution of staff salaries, relief and compensation. Payments and distributions of this kind are handled through the District Administration Office and generally require the CDO's sanction before they can proceed. With the post vacant, that process has slowed, leaving those entitled to salaries, relief and compensation waiting for the paperwork to move. For recipients, the delay means repeated visits and continued uncertainty over when the amounts will actually reach them.

Residents bear the brunt during festival season

For ordinary people of Dailekh, the nearly month-long vacancy has translated into day-to-day inconvenience. Residents continue to face difficulties in their routine administrative tasks, which are otherwise settled through regular visits to the District Administration Office.

The timing has made the gap harder to ignore. The weeks surrounding Dashain and Tihar are among the busiest of the year for district administration offices across the country, as families travel home for the festivals and demand rises for documents and administrative clearances. In Dailekh, much of that seasonal demand is being handled by an office operating without its substantive head, adding to the waiting time for people who need their work done before and during the festival period.

Wait continues as Tihar nears

Nearly a month after Anand Saru's transfer, Dailekh remains without a Chief District Officer, and the District Administration Office continues to run under an Assistant CDO. Rajdhani Daily noted that the absence has affected daily public services, peace and security and administrative work, compounding the inconvenience for residents.

With Dashain over and Tihar just around the corner, the question of when a new CDO will be posted to Dailekh remains open. Until a replacement arrives, the district's administration will keep functioning on an acting arrangement, and residents, staff and security agencies alike will continue to work around the prolonged vacancy at the very top of the district's administrative set-up.