The bill was tabled in parliament two months ago by the Sushil Koirala government and a meeting of the full House had decided to send the bill back to the Bills Committee for finalization after some political parties voiced reservations over some of its provisions.
The committee had formed a nine-member sub-committee and assigned it the task of conducting clause-wise discussions for giving final shape to the bill.
The sub-committee will finalize the bill in the next four days and forward it to the Bills Committee, which will then send it to parliament by next week for endorsement, said Taranidutta Chataut, coordinator of the sub-committee. "The sub-committee has expedited its work so that the committee would be able to table the bill in parliament on November 8," he added.
At a meeting held by the sub-committee on Sunday to discuss the bill, lawmakers including Law and Justice Minister Agni Kharel pressed the sub-committee to expedite its work as lack of this enabling legislation has completely stalled reconstruction work in the earthquake-affected areas.
Speaking at the meeting, Minister Kharel said the sub-committee should complete its work as soon as possible as winter was fast approaching and any delay in reconstruction would make life miserable for the quake victims.
He urged the sub-committee to change provisions in the bill only if that was necessary and to avoid change for the sake of change. "Further delay in starting the work will make it very difficult for the government to carry out reconstruction work," he said.
He said the sub-committee should settle all amendment proposals for the bill within two days. Around 21 lawmakers filing amendment proposals aired their view at the meeting.
Another lawmaker and former finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari said it was unfortunate that parliament has not been able to endorse the bill even six months after the devastating earthquake.
Other lawmakers also aired similar view. Rajaram Syangtan said, "The victims have given up hope that the government will construct their earthquake-damaged houses."
He said the government should ensure more accountability at the local level before carrying out reconstruction work.
The next meeting of the sub-committee is scheduled for Tuesday. "After that, we will finalize the bill and forward it to the committee. The committee will then table the final bill in the House for endorsement without further delay."
Once parliament endorses the bill, it will replace the ordinance which was introduced by the Koirala government for setting up the Reconstruction Authority, and this will eventually reactivate the Authority for carrying out reconstruction work in the 28 earthquake-hit districts
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