Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority Yubaraj Bhusal has pledged to deliver substantial results within three months.

Assuming office on Tuesday, Bhusal said he would put reconstruction tasks into two phases—before and after the Earthquake Day that falls on January 16—for giving much needed impetus to the reconstruction drive that has failed to live up to popular expectations.

The new NRA chief said he would attach equal priority to the task of reconstruction of private homes and the restoration of historic monuments destroyed by the April 2015 earthquake. Stating that the authority already has an efficient mechanism in place, Bhusal lauded the initiative of his predecessors Govinda Raj Pokhrel and Sushil Gyewali. “The task of institutionalising a mechanism in the NRA has been over. My job will be to expedite the process of reconstruction,” Bhusal said, addressing NRA officials after assuming his office at Singha Durbar.

After taking charge of the NRA on Tuesday, Bhusal participated in a briefing session from NRA officials to take stock of the current situation and immediate necessary measures.

The NRA has identified 737,705 households as beneficiaries of the housing reconstruction grant. Of them, 620,646 households have acquired the first tranche of aid, 85,332 have received the second tranche while 12,726 have collected the third instalment of the rebuilding grant, indicative of a slow progress in reconstruction contrary to the NRA’s claims.

Bhusal, a former finance secretary, was appointed CEO of the rebuilding authority after Pokhrel resigned from his post to contest the upcoming federal elections from Pyuthan as a Nepali Congress candidate. During his 34 years in bureaucracy, from 1980 to 2014, Bhusal served the government in various agencies including the National Planning Commission and the Local Development, General Administration and Tourism ministries.