NRA Chief Executive Govind Raj Pokharel has claimed the post-earthquake reconstruction drive is not as slow as projected. 

Speaking at a meeting called by the Parliamentary Development Committee, Pokharel said the reconstruction process, despite facing several challenges, was on par with the post-disaster reconstruction processes in Pakistan and Indonesia. “We are late by one year compared to reconstruction drive in Gujarat, India,” said Pokharel, exemplifying  the context in South Asia and Southeast Asia while slamming reports suggesting that the reconstruction drive in the country is likely to meet the fate of Haiti. 

Pokharel said as many as 301 engineers, who are currently being trained, would be deployed to 31 districts to assess the construction of private homes by mid-September 2017. Unavailability of manpower is the major factor contributing to slow progress in the reconstruction drive, he said, while assuring that a flexible budget for this

fiscal—with increase in the size of recurrent expenditure—would help the NRA achieve a significant progress. The NRA has been allocated a budget of Rs145.93 billion for the fiscal year 2017-18, an increment of 31 percent on the current fiscal year. (PR)