Speaking at a seminar on post-quake reconstruction organized by NRA in the capital on Tuesday, Prime Minister Oli severely criticized the officials of all concerned ministries and government bodies for failing to impart momentum to the task of reconstruction and rehabilitation."The inaugural of the national reconstruction mega campaign by President Bidya Devi Bhandari had rekindled hope among the public that the government would now seriously expedite the work and bring them relief soon. But the officials at all the concerned ministries and bodies have done nothing remarkable during all this time," he said. The mega campaign was inaugurated on Janurary 16.
"The pace at which the reconstruction is moving ahead is simply unacceptable. I am totally dissatisfied. If we continue at this pace, we are not going to complete the reconstruction even after a decade," he added.
He said the inauguration of the campaign would turn out to be meaningless if government agencies failed to expedite the reconstruction and rehabilitation with a sense of real urgency.
NRA organised the seminar after the officials concerned refused to coordinate with it in expediting the reconstruction and rehabilitation. Home Minister Shakti Basnet, Chief Executive Officer of NRA Sushil Gyewali, Chief Secretary Som Lal Subedi, the secretaries from all the concerned ministries and chief district officers and local development officers of all 14 quake-affected districts were present at the seminar.
Addressing the seminar, Oli said, "So I ask officials of all the concerned ministries and agencies to carry out the reconstruction task at a rapid pace right from tomorrow."
He also criticized civil servants for not going to the quake-hit districts as instructed just because they were not getting hefty allowances and other perks and facilities.
"With quake victims living a pathetic life while waiting for the government's response since nearly a year back, this is not the time for civil servants to press for additional benefits. I cannot believe that they are wrangling over personal benefits at such a time of crisis," he said.
The Ministry of General Administration had deputed over 85 officials, including eight joint secretaries, to NRA. But many of them refused to work there, saying they would have to put in long hours without any additional benefits, and they instead got themselves transferred to other ministries and bodies.
Although the prime minister has spoken out against the civil servants for not working in earnest, it was his own cabinet that had transferred the deputed joint secretaries away from NRA to other ministries after the officials showed their reluctance. As a result, NRA has not been able to set up its regional offices in the quake-hit districts and impart momentum to the reconstruction task.
Prime Minister Oli has now directed CEO Gyewali and Chief Secretary Subedi to take action against officials posing a hindrance to the reconstruction and immediately make the necessary transfers for expediting the work. He also said NRA should put out a daily progress report.
He asked civil servants not to focus too much on procedural matters and adopt shortcuts so that quake victims can reconstruct their damaged houses as soon as possible.
Chief Secretary Subedi for his part said it was a mistake to transfer elsewhere the top officials already deputed to NRA by the Ministry of General Administration. "It is true that lack of coordination between the concerned ministries and NRA has seriously hampered reconstruction," he said.
"With a view to expedite reconstruction work, the cabinet vested the CDOs with the power to transfer officials within their districts, but they have not even filled vacant posts at the village development committee offices," he said.
Related story
Federal govt is cooperating with Province 3 govt in formulating...
