Disgruntled locals padlocked the office of Brindaban municipality, Rauthat, for indefinite period today demanding appointment of required staffers at the ward office . Office of ward 4 is being run solely by a technical assistant. Staff crunch at the ward office has affected service delivery. Technical Assistant Hosh Narayan Yadav was running the office in the capacity of ward secretary. It was not possible for Yadav to deliver all the services to service seekers. “We had no alternative to padlocking the office to put pressure on the authorities concerned to act promptly to solve our problems,” said Niju Yadav, a Brindaban local. Yadav hasn't reported to the ward office since October 16, after Chairperson Shyam Nandan Yadav exerted pressure on him to provide efficient and timely service. Distribution of social security allowance and other services have been badly affected after the only staff at the ward locked the office and went out of contact. However, ward chairperson Yadav claimed he was maintaining his attendance at the municipality office. “We had no option but to put pressure on the authority concerned to resolve the problem,” said Chairperson Yadav. After the padlock, services given by the municipality office have been adversely affected. Executive Officer of the municipality Udaya Raj Devkota said there were only four civil servants for nine wards of the municipality and service seekers had to face problems as the municipality had deployed technicians at the wards due to manpower crunch. Devkota also said that they had asked the district coordination committee to manage the required staffers at the earliest. Meanwhile, district coordination committee Rautahat Chief Umesh Basnet said that a staffer had to look after at least two or more than two wards due to manpower crunch. He urged the people's representatives to unlock the office and help resume service delivery at the earliest.