PALPA, Jam 7: Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Yubaraj Bhusal has said that the local levels will pass the sketch of the house of the earthquake victims without taking any fees.

Speaking at an interaction program in Palpa on Saturday, NRA Chief Bhusal also asserted that construction materials like stones, gravel, sand and timber would be provided in an easy way to the quake survivors for constructing their houses.

Bhusal further said that the task of constructing the houses of the earthquake-affected people has been moved forward under the leadership of the local level people’s representatives. He insisted that the NRA has deputed the engineers to the local level for the reconstruction of the houses of earthquake survivors.

The engineers assigned to the earthquake affected areas have been sent there after providing 10 days long training while the sub-overseers have been assigned after providing them two-day training. NRA chief also said that the local technicians would also be imparted training on construction of earthquake resilient shelters and structures. Likewise, the carpenters and masons will also be given a week-long training on this.

Chief District Officer of Palpa district, Bishnu Prasad Dhakal on the occasion suggested for improving the paper works and the process that the quake survivors have to fulfill for house construction, saying it was cumbersome and time-consuming.

Chiefs and the administrative officials of the local levels, representatives of political parties, technicians, office-bearers of the District Coordination Committee and journalists stressed on the need of constructing the houses of the earthquake victims as soon as possible and in an efficient manner. RSS

KATHMANDU, Oct 23: The government has appointed  Lok Darshan Regmi as the 24th Chief Secretary.

A cabinet meeting held at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Singha Durbar on Monday, decided to promote Regmi to the post since current Chief Secretary Rajendra Kishor Kshetri is retiring Tuesday due to his age limit. Regmi was a secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs. He was promoted to secretary in 2070 BS.

Talking to media persons following the meeting, Spokesperson for the government and Minister for Information and Communications, Mohan Bahadur Basnet said the meeting also decided to install Shankar Prasad Adhikari to the post of Secretary at the Ministry of Finance.

Likewise, Naindra Prasad Upadhyay has been installed as the Secretary at the Public Service Commission, Madhu Prasad Regmi as the Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Mohan Krishna Sapkota as the Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Reshmi Raj Pandey as the Secretary at the Ministry of General Administration, Yubak Dhwaj GC as the Secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Prakash Mathema as the Secretary at the Ministry of Livestock Development.

The meeting promoted joint-secretary Bishnu Om Bade Shrestha to the post of secretary.

Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting also approved the resignations tendered by Education Secretary Sheshnath Adhikari and National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Govinda Pokhrel. The meeting allocated the responsibility of NRA CEO to the former Finance Secretary Yubraj Bhusal for the time being.

Pokhrel resigned from the post to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections. Pokharel is preparing to contest for the House of Representatives from Pyuthan district as a Nepali Congress candidate.

More, the meeting endorsed the provision for exempting the registration fees for transfer of houses built in the Giranchaur Integrated Model Settlement at Melamchi of Sindhupalchowk to the earthquake survivors.
The meeting decided to sign on a memorandum of understanding between the Nepal Government and the European Union regarding the election observation and give authority to form a talks team to negotiate for an agreement relating to receiving a loan of 80 million US dollars from the World Bank for the Livestock Sector Innovation Project.
The Council of Ministers has reached an agreement regarding the ‘medical education ordinance’ and the final decision on this is expected from the next meeting, according to Government Spokesperson Basnet.