A group of plainclothes investigators assembled outside an animal smuggler’s house in the Himalayas recently, waiting for signs of life.

The National Reconstruction Authority formally took its house rebuilding project to 11 severely quake-affected districts on Sunday, on the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake.

Only 700 of 770,000 families have got first installment of Rs 200,000

Tired of government apathy and the sluggish reconstruction process nearly a year after the April 25 earthquake, thousands of displaced families have decided not to wait for the government’s help in rebuilding their homes. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), more than 31,000 earthquake survivors in 11 of the 14 worst affected districts have rebuilt their homes on their own.

In a bid to expedite reconstruction work and end the protests of administrative nodal points in each village, the government has decided to provide a 50 percent of total salary and other facilities as motivational incentives to Village Development Committee (VDC) secretaries working in quake-affected districts.

National Reconstruction Authority is set to engage non-government organisations in rebuilding houses.

Says chairman’s ‘unilateral moves’ to sideline ‘rivals’ do no good to party

Almost five months after the Election Commission forwarded a draft law to amend the Local Bodies (Election Procedure) Act, the government has begun the process to endorse the legislation, a move that will clear the way for holding the long overdue local polls.

Nearly three months after the start of the detailed damage assessment of quake-destroyed houses and infrastructure, surveyors have completed verification of over half a million (over 80 percent) homes.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday criticised the National Reconstruction Authority, and by extension, his own government, for its failure to expedite post-quake reconstruction.

Three weeks into the process of signing a legal contract of assistance for rebuilding homes, the National Reconstruction Authority remains tangled in Singati, Dolakha, unable to make much progress.

Some argue mobilising civil servants will be easier than hiring new staff

Three MoUs to be signed n Formalisation of agreements on cards

The Judicial Council on Sunday recommended senior-most Justice Sushila Karki as the chief justice of the Supreme Court, picking her as the country’s first female CJ.

Eleven months after the devastating earthquake, the National Reconstruction Authority is signing housing reconstruction grants with the displaced families as part of its final preparations to distribute the government-announced cash to the homeless.