Kathmandu,
May 31: The government, in its budget for the next fiscal year 2017/18, has
allocated Rs. 146.18 billion for the reconstruction of the structures damaged
in the devastating Gorkha Earthquake in 2015.
Former Finance Minister Bishnu
Paudel had allocated Rs. 142 billion for post-quake reconstruction in fiscal
year 2016/17.
Although there has been only a
slight increment in the reconstruction budget for next year in amount terms, since
the line ministries will be implementing the reconstruction projects
separately, the amount will be much higher.
The money will be utilised through
the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) while the line ministries, such as the
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Water Supply and
Sanitation will run reconstruction programmes separately in their respective
areas.
Chief Executive Officer of the NRA
Dr. Govinda Raj Pokharel said that the government had allocated sufficient
budget as per its demand.
However, the reconstruction body
said that it wouldn’t be able to spend the entire budget allocated for the
current fiscal year.
NRA spokesperson Yam Lal Bhoosal
stated that the Authority had received Rs. 109 billion so far due to poor
spending, and only Rs. 70 billion to Rs. 75 billion would be spent by the end
of the fiscal, July 15.
“The house reconstruction process
moved very slowly against our expectation, which was the primary reason behind
the poor spending of the budget. Only 18,000 households have received the
second installment of the grant,” he said.
According to him, other than the
NRA, the Ministry of Education’s performance was good in terms of
reconstruction of quake-damaged structures.
In his budget speech, Deputy Prime
Minister and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara had promised to expedite
the distribution of the second and third tranches of the house reconstruction
grant, and address the grievances of the families who could not be included in
the beneficiaries’ list.
“I have given topmost priority to
the reconstruction of the quake-damaged structures. The capacity of all the agencies
involved in the reconstruction works will be enhanced and the process will be
simplified in order to expedite the process and complete the projects in time,”
Finance Minister Mahara had said.
The budget also gives priority to
the reconstruction of cultural and archaeological heritage, trekking routes and
rural infrastructure, including roads, as well as the use of traditional and
local construction materials.
“Likewise, programmes will be run
to prepare the human resources required to develop quality structures,
technical manpower will be mobilised at the local level, local bodies will be
involved in the reconstruction process, and government buildings that provide
public services will be made gender and disabled-friendly,” the budget read.
Similarly, the budget for the next
fiscal year states that identified settlements at risk would be relocated, and
integrated settlements would be developed.
It said the reconstruction of
damaged health and educational infrastructure would be completed within two
years.
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