The government has endorsed only 100 posts for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission four months after the transitional justice body had forwarded the proposal.

A subcommittee led by Commissioner Shree Krishna Subedi had assessed the need for 144 posts for the commission in July. A three-member team led by Rishi Rajbhandari, joint secretary at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, had reassessed the proposal forwarded by the commission.

“The number of postings is inadequate,” said Subedi. “We had taken many aspects of documentation and investigation into consideration before finalising the recommendation on the number of staff at the commission.”

The commission, which has the two-year mandate, with the possibility of extension for one year, has not been able to start work formally in the absence of regulations.

The Law Ministry said it has forwarded the regulation draft to the Cabinet for endorsement.

Besides, the commission has a rigorous task in hand to document and investigate the past incidents that might not have solid evidences except for witness accounts.

The Subedi-led sub-committee had suggested five divisions—fact finding and investigation; reparation and reconciliation; law and prosecution; administration division and one archive unit. “Given the task to be completed in a tight deadline, 100 staff is just not enough,” he said.

Rajbhandari, however, said the number of postings was finalised considering all aspects. “The Cabinet has approved the postings as recommended by our team,” he said, The Cabinet has approved five joint secretaries and other officials from the Finance and General Administration ministries for the commission.

The National Human Rights Commission has been given 309 postings. Given the mandate and nature of the conflict-era cases, the TRC will have to look into more cases than the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons.

The TRC will make do with a fewer number of staff for now but it will need more staff in future, Subedi insists. “The government should review the current postings for the commission to function fully,” he said.