The government will have to make arrangements for office and residence of the seven provincial chiefs once they are administered oath of office on Friday.
The provincial chiefs will leave for the respective temporary capitals where they will administer oath of office to the provincial assembly members. The government on Wednesday announced that the first provincial assembly meeting of Province 1 will be convened in Biratnagar, Province 2 in Janakpur, Province 3 in Hetauda, Province 4 in Pokhara, Province 5 in Rupandehi, Province 6 in Surkhet and Province 7 in Dhangadi.
The government is now busy making arrangements for offices in the places selected as temporary capitals. Decision on the office of provincial chief, his/her residence and the building to convene the first provincial assembly meeting will be taken first. The buildings have already been selected in some capitals while the administration is still looking for appropriate buildings in others.
Assistant Chief District Officer (CDO) of Morang Om Kumar Basnet said preparations are on to hold the first meeting of provincial assembly of Province 1 at Birendra Sabha Griha or the hall of District Coordination Committee.
"We are preparing to keep the office of the provincial chief at the office of the Regional Livestock Directorate or forest office, and residence of the provincial chief in the guest house of either Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) or Morang-Sunsari Irrigation Project," Basnet said. "We will decide everything after holding a discussion with all the parties at 4 pm today," he added.
CDO of Dhanusha Dilip Kumar Chapagai said preparations are on to hold the first provincial assembly meeting of Province 2 at the training center of District Education Office. He revealed that the provincial chief will reside at the guest house of NRB for now.
The office of the chief of Province 3 will be kept at the Regional Administration Office and the residence will also be arranged there, according to Divisional Engineer at the Building Technology Research and Training Center Sudeep Acharya. "We will hold the first meeting of the provincial assembly at the hall of Regional Education Directorate," he added.
The government is preparing to keep the office and residence of Province 4 chief at the Immigration Office, Pokhara and building of the Regional Administration Office respectively. The first meeting of the provincial assembly will be convened at the hall of municipal development training center.
Rupandehi district will function as the temporary capital of Province 5 but decision has yet to be taken about the office of provincial chief. CDO of Rupandehi Hari Prasad Mainiali stated that there are adequate government offices in Butwal and Bhairahawa but decision has yet to be taken about which office would be appropriate. "We are in course of study. We will decide about the place by tomorrow. There is no shortage of buildings though," he assured.
There will not be immediate need for residence of the chief of Province 6 as he has a house in Surkhet. "There is no rush for provincial chief's residence as his house is in Surkhet. We are preparing to keep the provincial chief's office at the Regional Forest Training Center," Regional Administrator of Mid Western Region Suresh Pradhan said.
He revealed that preparations are on to hold the first meeting of provincial assembly in the hall of Regional Water Supply Supervision and Monitoring Office.
Regional Administrator of Far Western Region Laxmi Ram Paudel said study is being done about which buildings will be appropriate for the office and residence of provincial chief, and the first meeting of provincial assembly of Province 7. "There are many alternatives. We are looking at them," he added.
The Ministry of General Administration, meanwhile, is preparing to send first class officer to the provincial chief's office. "The Cabinet will have to take decision on the chief secretary at the chief minister's office," Spokesperson at the ministry Shiva Ram Neupane said. "We are preparing to take the decision on the secretary of provincial chiefs today itself."
The government is preparing to deploy the current regional administrators as secretary in the office of five provincial chiefs. Senior joint secretaries will be sent to the remaining two provinces.
Yadav Koirala is currently the senior most joint secretary in Nepal and Ram Prasad Thapaliya is second in the seniority list.
