The government has brought an ordinance to create a post-earthquake reconstruction authority and other related apparatuses without waiting a few days for the budget session of Parliament to commence and table a Bill there. The government has said that the ordinance was chosen because the apparatuses relating to reconstruction had to be completed before the donors’ conference because it would then be easier to convince the international community to help rebuilding Nepal. But, judging by the type of composition of the executive body of the authority, which will be dominated by government ministers and bureaucrats, and of the advisory committee, which will look more like a king’s birthday celebration committee in the royal days, the reconstruction work is unlikely to be carried out in an efficient and effective manner.

It is odd that the PM should be the head of the authority’s advisory body as well as the head of the executive body of the authority

The ordinance provides for an 11-member executive body with a chief executive officer (CEO), who is supposed to be the main implementing official of reconstruction. One can imagine what his position will be like in an executive committee chaired by the Prime Minister, four ministers as its members, the chief secretary and the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission as its ex-officio members, and only three experts. Can such a body deliver? The Office of the Prime Minister itself and a separate parliamentary committee are there above the authority, and there is an advisory committee to help or monitor the work of the authority. The government can fire the CEO at any time if he or she goes off track. If such a composition was to be chosen, was there any need for this separate committee?

The executive body of the authority should properly be composed of technocrats renowned for their expertise in the various areas of reconstruction. And they, including of course the CEO, should properly be non-political persons who have no cadres or party bosses to please if the job of reconstruction is to be completed in a fair, impartial and efficient manner based on need only. One main reason why the highest ranking politicians and bureaucrat have decided to make their powerful presence in the executive committee is to directly lead it according to their wishes as huge amounts of funds are expected to flow into the authority for reconstruction. It also seems odd that the PM should be the head of the authority’s advisory body as well as the head of the executive body of the authority – being adviser and executioner at the same time. In such a situation, it is highly doubtful that any self-respecting person of proven ability in his or her field would agree to become CEO of the authority. The way the coalition partners have not wanted the authority to act really independently, it is likely that they might even pick as CEO somebody ready to bend to their wishes. Though the authority has been given a five-year term, another provision that allows the government to dissolve it at any time makes its life uncertain and the government’s reconstruction pledges feeble. Therefore, if the creation of such reconstruction apparatuses convinced the international donors, it would be something of a mystery.

No leniency

The government has ordered its concerned agencies to investigate  the foodstuffs, edible oil and beverages distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP) in the quake-affected districts and take punitive action against the world body if its officials are found guilty. The government was forced to launch the investigation following the media reports from across the country that the food items being distributed by the WFP were sub-standard and inedible. A parliamentary inspection team that visited a food depot in Nepalgunj also found that 541 metric tonnes of pulse imported from Turkey was gangrened.

The government has ordered its concerned agencies to come up with its finding within three days to find if rice, pulses and edible oil distributed in the quake affected areas were substandard. Health experts and food technologists have warned that consumption of the gangrened food items may cause cancer in the long run. The government should not give any leniency to the WFP officials for procuring such substandard foodstuffs meant for the people facing  food crisis due to the disaster.