KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 22

The executive committee of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has recommended the government to extend the tenure of the NRA by one year.

The 17th meeting of the committee held today led by the committee’s Chairperson Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has decided to recommend the Cabinet to extend the tenure of NRA.

Even though the NRA has completed significant reconstruction works so far, some works have been affected due to the COV- ID-19, thus the committee has decided to request the government to extend the tenure of NRA, said Sushil Gyawali, CEO of NRA.

“If the government extends NRA’s tenure then within the first seven months of the extended tenure, NRA will complete the remaining reconstruction works,” he said, adding, “In the remaining months, the authority will prepare the reconstruction reports to be submitted to the government.”

As the five-year tenure of NRA will be over in mid-January 2021, the committee has requested the government to extend the authority’s tenure till mid-January 2022. According to the Act Related to the Reconstruction of Earthquake Affected Structures, 2015, if NRA is not able to complete its work within five years then its tenure can be extended for one year, Gyawali explained.

Similarly, the meeting has also approved the amended budget worth Rs 488 billion for the reconstruction. Meanwhile, the committee has decided to organise either a physical or virtual international conference to present the work progress of the authority.

A meeting held on January 13 had formed a committee coordinated by NRA CEO Gyawali to prepare the overall report of the reconstruction works across the country which has been approved by the meeting held today.

CEO Gyawali informed that more than 90 per cent of the beneficiaries have now entered into the reconstruction process. Out of 790,000 beneficiaries who signed the agreement for the government grant, 603,000 (76 per cent) beneficiaries have received the third and final instalment of the grant.

More than 500,000 beneficiaries have completed rebuilding their houses.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 23, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.