Under pressure from the Maoists, three dozen VDC secretaries have resigned in Dhading district. One of the secretaries, Thakur Prasad Sinkhada, said they had no choice because of death threats. Of the roughly 50 VDCs in the district, nearly 40 have been burnt down. Secretaries of all village councils worked at the same office in the district headquarters until recently, but even there they faced Maoist threats. Elsewhere, more than two dozen VDC secretaries have urged the government not to give them the responsibility of running the local bodies. In a letter sent to the Local Development Ministry, VDC secretaries in Dang stated that the government was putting their lives at risks by giving them the authority to run the local bodies. After the government's coalition partners couldn't reach an agreement on the reinstatement of elected village councils, the government had recently instructed secretaries to run the councils.