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Administrative and financial operations in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality have been at a standstill since mid-July after the position of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) remained vacant. The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration had transferred two officials—Dan Bahadur Shahi and Nain Singh Budha—to the municipality, but neither reported for duty, leaving daily operations blocked.

Complicating matters further, the ministry removed Subas Rawal, an eighth-level education officer who had been handling financial responsibilities until the end of June. Although two administrative officers were assigned in succession, the municipality has effectively been without a CAO since July.

Rural Municipality Chair Chhirang Kyapne Lama said he and his team visited the ministry several times requesting the appointment of a CAO, but the matter remains unresolved. “We formally asked the ministry to allow education officer Rawal to serve as acting CAO with financial authority, but they declined. The officials posted to our municipality are not willing to come,” Lama said.

Rawal is currently in Kathmandu for in-service training, further weakening the municipality’s leadership. The local government has again requested the ministry to temporarily appoint seventh-level engineer Hemanta Neupane as acting CAO with financial authority. “The ministry must either assign Engineer Hemanta as recommended or send a new CAO immediately,” Lama added.

The absence of a CAO has stalled project agreements, budget implementation, procurement processes, and all financial transactions. Employees have not received salaries and allowances since Dashain, and the distribution of social security allowances has also stopped, according to the municipality.

Lama said development projects, service delivery, and financial operations have been disrupted for three months. Without an urgent alternative arrangement from the ministry, he warned, all municipal functions could come to a complete halt.

In the eastern part of Mugu, where the Lama community lives, Chitim (Kagni Sampa in Lama language), is built at the entrance of every village. Reflecting this heritage, a Chitim-style bridge has been built at the entrance of the Buddha Park in Mugum village of  Karmarong Rural Municipality-2.

This unique bridge has attracted the attention of not only the village but the entire Karnali region. The construction has been completed with a beautiful combination of religiosity, architecture and local craftsmanship.

Built at a cost of Rs 4.16m, the project was funded by Rikika Bruckner Lama Thinle Karuna Foundation President Thinle Lama, completed through the skill and labor of Mugum villagers. The bridge represents an earnest effort to revive a cultural heritage that is on the brink of disappearance.

According to Thinle, the bridge was envisioned to preserve the Lama-Buddhist tradition after the Kagni Sampas started disappearing from villages due to road expansion and other infrastructure development projects.

The locals of Mugum said the bridge not only preserves religious tradition, history and cultural identity, but also has the potential to boost religious tourism by attracting pilgrims as well as internal and external visitors to Mugum. 

Designer Sonam Girme Lama, who has been studying ways to preserve such a structure since 2009, said as the roads are being expanded, the old Kagni Sampas are being demolished. He believes the bridge, which serves as an entrance to the sacred Devbhoomi, will contribute significantly to religious tourism.

Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality Chairperson Tshiring Kyapne Lama said that the Chitim-style bridge is a symbol of pride not only for the village but the entire rural municipality. Inaugurating the bridge, he said Chitim is more than a gateway—it is a path for the gods to enter, a symbol of protection, and community identity.

Religious leaders and pilgrims echoed this sentiment, calling the bridge a ‘gateway to blessings’ for those embarking on spiritual journeys.

Seven-year-old Hima Lama of Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality-1, Dolphu, had been suffering from a skin disease for a long time. Her family walked for three days to take her to the district hospital for treatment. The hospital doctors consulted Lama’s condition with a specialist doctor at the Karnali Provincial Hospital in Surkhet via video. After being monitored and treated for a week as per the specialist’s advice, she has now fully recovered.

Similarly, 11-year-old Abhishek Singh of Simikot Rural Municipality-7, Humla, was taken to the district hospital by his grandfather after he developed fever and cough. The doctors there also discussed Singh’s problem with a specialist in Surkhet via video chat. Taking medicine and being monitored as per the suggestion has improved his health.

These two cases are just examples of thousands of poor patients in Karnali who are now taking benefits from telemedicine service. In the past, people were forced to spend tens of thousands of rupees just to reach cities like Surkhet, Nepalgunj, Kathmandu, or even Lucknow in India for treatment due to remote terrain, inadequate health services and lack of medicines.

Telemedicine services, now operating at district hospitals in five districts of Karnali—Mugu, Humla, Dolpa, Jajarkot and Kalikot—as well as at Riu, Bagara and Bama health posts in Mugu have eased the suffering of people living in these remote districts. As both roads and health services are scarce in these five districts, people still have to walk all day to reach the nearest health facility. But the situation is slowly improving.

According to Dr Nirmal Nagarkoti, chief of Mugu District Hospital, telemedicine has made treatment easier for many patients. “Doctors in the hospital can now get treatment advice through live video chat with specialists in Surkhet,” he said.
Dr Akhand Upadhyay of Dolpa District Hospital added the service is proving to be very effective, especially for patients with skin and mental illnesses. “Presently, this service is only available during OPD hours, but it would be even better if expanded beyond it,” he said.

When 19-year-old Dal Bahadur Rokaya of Kharpunath Rural Municipality-3 in Humla sustained a head injury in a fight, his family was preparing to take him to Nepalgunj for a CT scan. But the hospital consulted with a specialist in Surkhet via video chat and arranged treatment locally.

“We showed the doctor our son’s condition on the video, and he prescribed the medicines and treatment procedure from Surkhet. Had this service not been available, it would have cost us a lot of money to  take him to Nepalgunj,” said Dhanbir, Dal Bahadur’s father.

Similarly, when Deep Bahadur Shahi of Kharpunath Rural Municipality-4 had an eye injury, the doctors at the district hospital contacted an ophthalmologist in Surkhet via video and treated him. Without telemedicine service in the district, Shahi would have been referred to Nepalgunj, as Humla District Hospital does not have an eye specialist.

Yubaraj Thapa, 31, of Thuli Bheri Municipality-3 in Dolpa district, had been battling mental illness for years, but could not afford any treatment due to poor financial condition. But thanks to telemedicine service, he is now receiving regular consultations from a mental health specialist.

“This service is a blessing for us poor people. We could not afford to treat our son due to lack of money, but now he is getting free treatment,” said Nawaraj Thapa, Yubaraj’s father.

The service has also helped mothers like Pema Serap Lama of Mugum Karmrong Rural Municipality-6 in Mugu district. When her five-year-old daughter developed blisters and fever, the village community hospital was able to contact a doctor in Surkhet for consultation.

“I couldn't even afford to take my child to the district headquarters. But with the telemedicine service at our community hospital, the doctor from Surkeht could examine her condition and give her the medicine course she needed,” said Lama. 

Launched on 8 April 2025, in partnership with the Karnali Province Ministry of Social Development and Chhaya Nepal, the telemedicine service has already treated 1,407 patients. According to Narendra Bahadur Chandra, telemedicine operator at Karnali Province Hospital, 427 people from Jajarkot, 305 from Dolpa, 278 from Humla, 236 from Kalikot and 161 from Mugu have benefited from the service.

“Telemedicine service has revived both life and hope in remote districts of Karnali,” said Kamal Thapa, executive director of Chhaya Nepal.