Sources close to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Chief Justice Ram Prasad Shrestha and Constituent Assembly Chairman Subas Chandra Nembang said security personnel denied taking risks to take them to their offices in view of the Maoist strike.[break]
Nepal, Shrestha and Nembang couldn´t attend their offices on Sunday and Monday. They also directed officials at their offices to conduct important official duties from their respective residences.
Similarly, regular activities of the country´s principal secretariat Singha Durbar have been hit hard as the indefinite general strike entered second day on Monday.
Though almost all ministers and top bureaucrats reached their offices at Singha Durbar on foot early on Monday, junior officials were absent.
Almost all secretaries were present in their ministries. All six secretaries at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers reached the office on time. While secretaries Dhruba Sharma, Trilochan Uprety, Ram Chandra Man Singha and Bimal Wagle reached the office on foot, Leela Mani Paudyal reached the office on bicycle.
Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire took help from Nepal Police to reach the office and back home.
Almost all ministers had reached Singha Durbar early in the morning with police escorts. Most of them stayed in their chambers whole day. A few ministers however participated in a meeting called by the prime minister.
Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari among others participated in a meeting at the prime minister´s official residence at Baluwatar.
Following Gachchhadar´s busy schedule, the meeting of the Economic and Infrastructure Committee of the cabinet was put off till Tuesday though ministers Aftab Alam, Thakur Sharma and Bal Krishana Khand had reached the PMO at 1 pm.
Entry into the Singha Durbar was tightened with beefed up security at the southern gate. Only a few service seekers were allowed to enter into the Singha Durbar but they had to return without their work being done as most of the employees were absent.
Home Minister Bhim Rawal, Law Minister Prem Bahadur Singh and a few ministers were present in their respective ministries.
Only a few employees residing nearby the Singha Durbar area reached the office but they had left the offices much before 5 pm.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) also remained deserted on Monday. Out of 16, only seven justices reached the court. "Those who reside near the SC attended the office and those living afar couldn´t come," said a source at the SC.
On a normal day, the SC conducts hearing on more than 150 cases. "But the SC has not been able to hold hearings for the last two days," said SC Assistant Spokesperson Hemanta Rawal.
Activities in government offices outside Kathmandu have also been affected. In Siraha, Maoist cadres forcefully shut government offices. More than 57 government offices across Saptari and Siraha remained closed due to Maoist threats.Chief District Officer of Siraha, however, denied the reports of office closures.
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