Govt failed to send secretaris to quake-hit areas

Kathmandu, June 1: More than seven months elapsed since the Legislature-Parliament’s Development Committee directed the government and Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development to make necessary arrangement to send VDC secretaries to the quake hit areas to facilitate the collection of data about the quake-damaged structures, distribution of grant money, and to facilitate in the reconstruction and rehabilitation works.

But, as the government turned deaf ear to the parliamentary committee's directives, at least 420 VDCs across the country are still running without secretaries, which has severely affected the development and reconstruction works in the areas devastated by the earthquake in April and May last year.

Seven months back, Development Committee chairman Rabindra Adhikari had asked the government to fill up the vacant posts at the local bodies as soon as possible as the absence of officers badly hit the development and construction works.

He had directed the government to hire the officers in contract if the present workforce failed to meet the demand.

“But, not a single secretary was sent to the quake hit villages that were running without the government officers. It has affected the grant agreement and reconstruction work at the local level,” informed Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary at the MoFALD.

He said that one secretary had to handle up to five VDCs.

Senior officers of various ministries present at the Development Committee meeting Wednesday blamed the Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) for its indifference towards appointing VDC secretaries even a year after the quake rocked the country.

Lawmakers also lambasted the government for its inefficiency in sending officers to the local units. “Still one secretary is looking after four VDCs. How can we hope that a single individual in remote area can facilitate in multiple activities in multiple places at a time,” said Lawmaker Parshuram Tamang. 

The MoGA even issued circular to the Regional Administrative Offices on 10^th May and all ministries, commissions, secretariats, offices and central agencies not to transfer any government officers, citing the Fiscal Year was to going to end soon and election of the civil servants’ trade union around the corner.

National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) spokesperson Ram Prasad Thapaliya said that the government could have assigned the Technical Officer at the VDCs to perform the jobs of secretaries till the vacant posts were fulfilled. “It would have facilitated the people and reconstruction process immensely,” he stated.

According to the MoFALD, Rasuwa has only five VDC secretaries while a small number of secretaries are working in other remote districts.

The Development Committee meeting on Wednesday expressed its concerns towards the vacant posts at the local level.

It directed the government to fulfill the posts at the earliest or make arrangements so that the technical officers could perform the reconstruction works in effective manner.

Grievance hearing mechanism needed

The Committee also directed the government to establish a grievance hearing mechanism to settle the complaints of the people from the quake hit areas.

 “There were complaints that some genuine quake-victim families failed to get registered as the victim while others whose houses were not damaged succeeded to get them listed as the victim. Therefore, the government should investigate the published lists and provide grants to those who were left out,” directed Adhikari.

Stressing on the need to provide shelter to the quake-affected people before monsoon, the committee directed the government, NRA and other concerned ministries to expedite the reconstruction works and grant distribution, send technical hands to the districts, and provide sufficient construction materials so that the quake-victims could construct their house at the earliest.