For over nine months, earthquake victims have heard nothing but excuses about why help is not reaching them. Even the assistance that the government claims it has provided has been limited to settlements with easy road access. But much of the impact of the April earthquake has been felt in rural Nepal that even today remains deprived of significant assistance.

First, we heard excuses about how the government could not procure adequate tarps on time. Then we were told that the approaching monsoon made it difficult to reach remote areas. Then the focus shifted to constitution drafting. Then the blockade created a shortage of essential supplies. All the while the earthquake victims were left to fend for themselves.

The government got the National Reconstruction Authority off the ground when it appointed a Chief Executive Officer in December 2015—eight long months after the earthquake.

Now that the border-centric protests have ended and cross-border supplies have resumed to their normal level, we hope the government has run out of excuses for inaction. Even then, we hear semantics being thrown around by government officials. Senior officials are heard saying that reconstruction is a long-term process and hence cannot be rushed. Reconstruction, they claim, needs to run its own course in terms of planning, preparing, hiring human resources and a host of processes before anything tangible can be started on the ground.

Officials are also seen attempting to educate the few who dare to raise questions about the difference between transitional assistance and reconstruction. Some even try to justify the delay, arguing that the go-slow approach is necessary to avoid repeating a Haiti-like failure.

We have no issues with the official definition of reconstruction, but behind the semantics, the officials seem to be forgetting that it is the government’s job to bridge the gap between relief and reconstruction. How does the government explain the fact 80,000 families in high-altitude areas have endured a harsh winter? Over nine deaths have already been reported among the earthquake victims. The actual number could be higher. There is no data on the illnesses from harsh living conditions.  

Much of this could have been avoided had the government shown some urgency in complimenting citizens’ efforts. Before the winter began, many families that could afford to rebuild their houses wanted to do so. But the officials categorically told them that houses built before the official commencement of the reconstruction works will not receive the assistance of Rs200,000 that the government announced. Officials say this was necessary to ensure housing standards for safety.

But it has had the unintended consequence of discouraging citizens to take part in reconstruction. There were no barriers to issuing the government approved designs well in time for the rural areas. The verification could have been done later when the assistance was actually doled out.

Without a renewed sense of urgency, the national reconstruction efforts would still be largely confined to political speeches and government papers come this April.