By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Nov. 7: The government’s initiative to bring National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), a particular and dedicated institution of the federal government, has failed to get momentum for its formal operation.
Although the government had called a vacancy of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Authority on September 5, 2019, the government has received fewer applications than it had expected.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had called the vacancy notice twice after the first vacancy notice. Although in the first vacancy notice enough applications were received, only one applicant out of 15 was approved.
Of the 15 application received in the first vacancy notice, only one person’s application was approved by the government, joint secretary Indu Ghimire and chief at the National Disaster Risk Reduction Division of the Ministry told The Rising Nepal.
“We, thus, were compelled to issue the second notice for the post of the CEO, and now only

three days are left to apply for the post,” Ghimire said.
When asked about the necessity and idea about establishing the NDRRMA, joint secretary Ghimire said that the necessity of the authority in Nepal was realised after years of waiting with the introduction of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Act-2017 as Nepal is at risk of a number of geological, hydro-meteorological, and other human-induced hazards.
The milestone decision to establish the Authority was made after the introduction of the Act by replacing the response and relief-centric law, the Natural Calamity Relief Act of 1982, she said.
The Act’s Section 10 has provisioned the establishment of the Authority. The Authority has dreamed of forming a 10-member Disaster Risk Reduction and Management National Council chaired by the Prime Minister. The Council has a provision of having all chief ministers of seven States as members for establishing better communication and coordination with the States, she said.
The Authority will also build coordination with National, District and Local levels Disaster Management Committees.
There is also a provision of forming one executive committee led by Home Minister of the Federal government. The committee will have 13 members.
Ghimire said that the Authority would also work as secretariat office of the Council and the Executive Committee.