Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged his ministers to prioritise implementation of the new constitution, work towards holding local polls by March and provide relief to earthquake victims soon.

During a meeting held at his residence in Budhanilkantha on Sunday, Deuba also directed his party ministers to give their level best performance to serve for the public.

“Since we have not sat together after participating in the government, our party president invited us for the first time in a group to get first hand information on our plans for our ministries,” Minister for Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Hridaya Ram Thani told the Post. “He also told us to prove ourselves as minister in the short time span we have.”

“The previous government was not able to provide timely relief to the earthquake victims and neither was it able to convince the people that it was serious in implementing the constitution by holding three elections—local, provincial and federal—within the next 16 months or so. Therefore, I urge you all to make sure the public feels that we are working for their benefit,” another minister quoted the NC president as saying. Deuba is also said to have warned the ministers to maintain discipline and refrain from controversies.

During the hour-long meeting, the ministers are said to have briefed Deuba about their works and requested him to create a conducive environment to work without any pressure.

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak and Minister of Forest Shankar Bhandari could not attend the meeting as they were outside the Kathmandu Valley.