Parliament session put off until Sunday after Nepali Congress obstruction

Nepal's Legislature-Parliament meeting has been deferred until Sunday after the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) demanded that the government provide housing aid of Rs 200,000 to earthquake victims in one go, instead of in three tranches.

Seeking Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli's clarification on the government's failure to expedite reconstruction and rehabilitation works, the Nepali Congress obstructed the House session for the second consecutive day yesterday.

Oli who was present to update the lawmakers about the present status of reconstruction works and clarify before the House about the reasons behind slow progress cancelled his address at the last moment after talks between the ruling and opposition parties ended conclusively, reports the Kathmandu Post.

During the informal meeting held between the ruling and opposition parties, Oli urged the Nepali Congress to let the House function and said that the existing directives does not allow his government to provide housing aid of Rs 200,000 in lump sum.

Nepali Congress leader Prakash Saran Mahat said that Oli's sppech was not needed instead commitment was needed from him.

"The PM was reluctant to express any commitment," he added.

According to the National Construction Authority, as per the existing directives, earthquakes survivors should get the Rs 200,000 housing aid in three tranches, and just a little over 5,000 quake victims have so far received the first tranche of Rs 50,000.

Oli's Communist Party of Nepal -Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) insist that the Nepali Congress's demand is against the reconstruction directives which was formulated by themselves when in power.

Minister for Law and Justice Agni Kharel said that it was the Nepali Congress government which formulated the directives to provide housing grant to the earthquake victims in three tranches.

"I was one of the many lawmakers who had called for providing the housing in lump sum, but the NC rejected our demand then," Kharel said.

He questioned, "How can the government decide against the existing legal provisions?"

Kharel said the Nepali Congress should review its position before passing the buck on the government.

Nepali Congress leaders, however, blamed that Oli government has done nothing for the earthquake survivors and that the housing grant be provided at once to help expedite the reconstruction works.