Rs 27.71b more needed to reconstruct remaining ones
KATHMANDU, April 14: Although the government has already spent more than eight billion rupees for reconstruction of the physical infrastructures destroyed during the decade-long Maoist insurgency, as many as 5,610 such infrastructures are still awaiting reconstruction.
According to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR), a total of Rs 8.63 billion has been spent so far for the reconstruction of destroyed physical infrastructure. The ministry estimates that an additional Rs 27.71 billion is required for the reconstruction of the remaining destroyed infrastructures such as schools, government offices, bridges and Village Development Committee (VDC) buildings, among others.
Budget to rebuild irrigation related infrastructures demanded
While the government has already spent Rs 2.38 billion for the reconstruction of district headquarters-based government offices, it is estimated that an additional Rs 5.72 billion will be required for restoring all such offices in the district headquarters that had faced Maoist attacks during the conflict.
Likewise, the government has been able to provide only Rs 1.10 billion to reconstruct damaged schools although a total of Rs 5.97 billion has been demanded for the purpose. In a report submitted to the parliamentary committee on Social Justice and Human Rights (SJHR) on Monday, MoPR Secretary Khum Raj Punjali said MoPR has stated that reconstruction of only 3,306 of the total 8,916 destroyed infrastructures during the 1996-2006 insurgency has been completed so far.
"We are short of budget to expedite reconstruction of all destroyed infrastructure. The government must allocate sufficient budget for the purpose as we are envisioning concluding reconstruction process in two-three years," said Secretary Punjali.
According to the ministry, among the infrastructures destroyed during the conflict, most were schools. Only 777 school buildings have been reconstructed although the total number of destroyed schools stands at 2149. Likewise, only 891 of the total 2,072 destroyed VDC buildings have been reconstructed so far.
Airing their views at the committee meeting on Monday, lawmakers urged the relevant authorities to accelerate the reconstruction process. Former Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Paudel urged to ministry to make a three-year work plan and complete the reconstruction work. "The ministry should not exist for long. So the ministry must conclude the tasks of reconstruction and pay compensations to the victims within two to three years," said Paudel.
The parliamentary panel has decided to form a separate task force comprising committee members to study the progress made so far in the reconstruction process. "It seems we need to inquire with the concerned minister as well after concluding our study," said the Committee's Chairman Sushil Kumar Shrestha.
