Art of subtle

Chief Secretary Leelamani Paudyal on Saturday tried to justify the government's one-window policy in collection and distribution of monetary aid and relief material for earthquake victims. According to him, the one-window approach is justified because without it there is a risk of misappropriation of funds and excessive concentration of relief material at some places. He has a point. But as we have repeatedly pointed out in this space, at times of unprecedented national crisis like the recent earthquake, starting with the 7.6 whopper last Saturday, this top-down model has some serious flaws. It would have been a perfect arrangement if government agencies were in themselves able to distribute relief from a national pool. That would have cut out private sector profiteers and ensured fair distribution. But with hundreds of thousands of quake victims still struggling for access to tents and basic foodstuff, the government's decision to go solo, clearly, is not panning out as planned.

Take the 'Prime Minister's Relief Fund'. Whenever there is a national calamity, people from every walk of life generously contribute to this fund, be it during the 2008 Koshi floods or last year's devastating landslides in Jure, Sindhupalchowk. In the case of Jure, over Rs 100 million were collected for relief efforts. But one year into it, most of it remains unspent. In the case of the latest earthquake, Rs 150 million has already been deposited into PM's fund. Given the checkered history of such funds, there is a big question mark over these funds going into the right hands.

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There are far too many procedural hurdles in administration of such centralized funds and the arrangement is unsuited for immediate relief. There is also a high risk of the funds being misused. Compared to this, other individuals and non-government entities are not encumbered with such procedural burdens and can reach victims quicker. Again, there is always the risk of some of the help ending up in wrong hands. But since private contributors will ask for greater accountability, the risk will be comparably low.

During his briefing to the journalists on Saturday, Chief Secretary Paudyal asked the media not to disseminate news that will discourage rescue and relief workers who have been selflessly serving earthquake victims. Finance Minister Ram Saran Mahat tweeted that the government, working with its limited resources, needed encouragement, not undue criticism. Yes, there might be some media outlets that revel in criticizing every government move. But at this hour of national mourning, most media houses are genuinely concerned about quake victims not being able to get timely help. That risk of misuse would be greater if the media abandoned this vital role of watchdog. It is in this spirit that we have been calling on the government to open up aid collection and distribution to others. As Paudyal rightly says this is not a time for blame game. Only with a collective effort will we be able to tide over these difficult times. Government representatives, for their part, would do well to understand the subtle difference between healthy criticism and unjustified calumny.