KATHMANDU, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Some 900 government officials have vacated their offices in the southern Nepal's Terai region and many of them have moved to the capital Kathmandu, as a sense of insecurity hits the region, reported The Kathmandu Post on Sunday.

    Those vacating their offices include over 700 Village Development Committee (VDC) secretaries, about 100 staff from 17 Land Revenue and Land Reform Offices, and two dozen officials from the Inland Revenue Offices.

    Meanwhile, a large number of teachers and officials at district education offices have sought transfer from those districts, and if the problem is not addressed, it could cause the number of evacuations to shoot up further, said a senior Education Ministry official.

    "Various criminal outfits and Madhesi groups have mainly targeted revenue offices, land revenue offices, local development offices, education offices and even health service providers," Baman Prasad Neupane, joint secretary at the Home Ministry told the daily.

    Even worse is the situation among school teachers, according to Balananda Paudel, secretary at the Ministry of Education.

    He said the ministry is flooded with huge number of transfer requests from education officers in the region.

    "The number of teachers leaving the districts is even higher," he said.

    Records at the Home Ministry show that seven government officials including two VDC secretaries and a district education supervisor have already been killed since unrest began in the region in February. Cases of kidnappings are recorded almost every week.