Local people in a village in Bhojpur district have gone ahead and selected their parallel representatives on their own. Tired of waiting for VDC and because development work has come to a standstill as they haven't had an elected council for four years they got together and elected their own officials. This is the first time that civil society has taken up governance in its own hands and formed an institution with the authority to represent the people. The villagers of Kulung VDC organised a big mass meeting where they formed an executive committee of their VDC with all political authority. They call it the Community Development and Service Committee. It is made up of former representatives of the people and other prominent figures in the village. "We don't make recommendations like other government offices do, but we play decisive role in discussing and implementing development in our village," said Dambar Bahadur Rai who has been selected chairman by the villagers.

The committee has a vice chairman, a secretary, a joint secretary and a treasurer. There are nine members in the committee representing the nine wards in the village. There are three other members representing dalits, oppressed and tribal communities.

The appointments are made in accordance with the newly formed committee's separate statute. The newly selected representatives have said that they would work toward conserving human rights and civil freedom. They have also enlisted road construction, electricity, communication, industries, education and health as the areas they would be working in