On January16, when the country marked the 18th Earthquake Safety Day, it brought back painful memories of devastating earthquakes of April and May, 2015. Government-led post-quake reconstruction formally started on the same day with President Bidya Devi Bhandari laying the foundation of a destroyed heritage site and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli unveiling a design for a resident settlement. The disaster had claimed more than 9,000 people and rendered thousands homeless, are now living in transitional shelters. Victims have been receiving help from various post-quake programs. However, there is a lot of confusion, which has added to survivors' woes by delaying reconstruction. It took the National Reconstruction Authority almost nine months to formally start its programs. These programs are yet to be implemented.A few issues need to be addressed if reconstruction is to be made effective. There are a number of I/NGOs working with the government. People have high expectations of them. But endless wrangling between NGOs and government and politicization of reconstruction and relief are hampering the process. With the winter at its peak, the lives of survivors is getting tougher by the day.
Earthquake survivors lack information regarding which programs provide what help. The government announced that every household will be provided with Rs 200,000 in grant and up to Rs 2.5 million in soft loan to rebuild destroyed houses. It has already distributed Rs. 15,000 as a support for building transitional shelters and Rs. 10,000 to purchase winter clothes to each victim family. Some survivors think Rs 25,000 will be deducted from overall grants. Others expect to receive Rs 200,000 separately. These are the kinds of confusions survivors have over the reconstruction process.
To make matters worse, even government officials are not clear on how the loan process works. They are waiting for clear instructions from central government. The government needs to work closely with NGOs to avoid duplication. There are instances of people refraining from clearing the debris and start rebuilding on their own fearing that if they do so they will be deprived of government grants. No government representative has reached out to survivors to clarify. Additionally, the survivors who lack connections or those who cannot assert themselves are not even able to receive the beneficiary identity cards. Many have no clue how to get them.
Government officials tend to be biased against development agencies. They think developmental workers are here to gobble up money. Similarly, development workers do not have warm relations with government employees. They view government employees as corrupt and ineffective. This mutual distrust has affected coordination. District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) is supposed to coordinate with various stakeholders and create an enabling environment. But, in reality, it is not proactive with regards to inter-cluster coordination or in reaching out to beneficiaries.
Government employees and development agencies are debating blanket approach against target approach. In blanket approach, service provider or agencies are supposed to cover designated areas and choose every household as beneficiary. In target approach, single women, people living with disabilities and the marginalized population are given priority. Development agencies are for this latter approach.
Like every other sector, earthquake relief and reconstruction is also facing political intervention. Desire of local leaders to be a liaison between beneficiaries and service providers is hampering relief and reconstruction. Political influence on district stakeholders has made implementation tough. One of the major complaints of implementing agencies is political pressure and intervention in reconstruction.
Coordination among government and non-government agencies is a must. Both government and development agencies need to adhere to principles of accountability and transparency. Likewise strong information management is required to make reconstruction meaningful. Use of information technology can make the process efficient. The working agencies need to ensure that they reach the people waiting for help.
The author is a Political Science graduate
saugat.gautam@gmail.com
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