Kathmandu, January 14

Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli today said the government was expecting to resolve the genuine concerns of agitating political parties through consensus very soon.

“Political dialogue with the agitating parties has been intensified and we are expecting to resolve the genuine concerns very soon through consensus,” said PM Oli during a luncheon meeting with heads of diplomatic missions and development partners of Nepal today.

With this, the government expects an end to the disturbance at the border points and obstruction in the supply of essential items, which this will pave the way for intensive work on reconstruction, he said. During the meeting, PM Oli shared his views on the political developments after promulgation of the constitution and the immediate reform action plan of the government as well as progress made in post-earthquake reconstruction work.

Oli said amendment proposals on the constitution have been tabled in the Parliament to address the concerns of some sections of society and they are in the final stage.

He said officials of the Reconstruction Council, Steering Committee and Executive Committee of the National Reconstruction Authority have been nominated; office of NRA has been set up; organisational structure of the Authority has been approved; budget and programmes of reconstruction have been approved; and staffing need is being met with the pooling of personnel from different government ministries.

The reconstruction campaign is starting from January 16 and it should gain momentum with milestones to be set in the next three months. By April 25, the government plans to make substantial progress in housing reconstruction, the PM said.

A survey of earthquake-affected households to verify genuine victims has begun from Dolakha district from January 2 and the government plans to expedite the survey by adding resources and completing the beneficiary survey by the next six weeks, and plans to hand over housing grants to the actual beneficiaries through bank accounts. As local government bodies are the principal implementing agencies, the government will strengthen their capacity and establish resource centres at convenient locations for all settlements, which will supply masons and construction materials, besides providing technical training, he said.

According to him, a district level coordination committee will be formed under the leadership of a Member of Parliament under the supervision of a Sub-regional office for every two to three districts.

The PM also said a National Reconstruction Implementation Plan based on Post Disaster Needs Assessment - PDNA will be launched soon. “Appreciating the development partners for pledging resources for reconstruction, I also urge your continued support in implementing the reconstruction plan,” he said.

The PM further said that the government is in consultation with major political parties to forge consensus to hold interim local elections under the prevailing laws. “I hope we will be able to conduct the election in a few phases within the first half of this year.”

He added that the government has recently approved Immediate Reform Action Plan and put it into immediate implementation. He said the recent fuel and supply crisis had adversely affected the implementation of development projects.

Finally, the PM expressed sincere gratitude to all for their generous support to the country’s reconstruction mission.