Gyawali to resort to court

Kathmandu, Jan. 11: Sacked chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Sushil Gyawali Wednesday said that he would take recourse to court for justice.

Stunned at being fired from the NRA, Gyawali said, "The unjust decision of the Cabinet has forced me to seek legal remedies. It is necessary to ensure justice to the quake-affected people by expediting the reconstruction works."

A Cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon gave Gyawali a marching order, accusing him of the inefficiency to expedite the reconstruction works as per expectations, and appointed Prof. Dr. Govinda Raj Pokharel as the chief of the reconstruction body.

Sushil Gyawali

Issuing a press statement in the evening, Gyawali argued that the erstwhile government had appointed him for a five-year tenure and he worked efficiently in collaboration with the government, line ministries, development partners, non-government organisations, political parties, civil society and local communities to make the reconstruction works effective and fast.

He claimed the progress towards the reconstruction of private houses and education, health and other infrastructure.

Erstwhile Sushil Koirala-led government had appointed Pokharel, then incumbent vice-chairmen of the National Planning Commission, the CEO of NRA about one and a half years ago.

But, he had to leave the office as the government failed to get the approval of the parliament on the Reconstruction Ordinance.

He had also served as the executive director of the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), a government agency working in the field of alternative energy.

According to the NRA Act, 2015, the government can appoint and remove the CEO of the reconstruction body.

Dr. Govinda Raj Pokharel

Article 11 of the Act mentions that the tenure of the CEO shall be five years and the government can extend the tenure for a maximum of one year.

The same Article has enabled the government to remove the CEO at any time from his/her office in case of poor performance. However, prior to such removal from office, the CEO will be provided with an opportunity to defend himself or herself.

On the basis of those provisions, the government had twice asked clarifications from Gyawali, blaming him for his inability to mobilise the required staff for the post-quake reconstruction, implement the instructions of the NRA Steering Committee, poor coordination with the government agencies and delay in the distribution of the house reconstruction grant.

He had submitted his clarifications to the government on 4^th and 8^th January.