SURKHET, Oct 13: "I read in the newspapers that the displaced do not have even beaten rice to eat. Is that true?" Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal asked Mid-western Regional Administrator Dhanraj Ratala, who was briefing him on the damage of floods and landslides last week.
Ratala´s answer to the question was a mere nod.
Then the Prime Minister asked, "How much food is needed to prevent a famine?" Ratala was unable to furnish a reply.
The prime minister, who arrived in Surkhet before touring flood-affected areas in mid- and far-western regions, asked officials many questions at Surkhet airport on Tuesday.
He inquired about the status of shelters, food and even roads. However, officials only managed to look at each other´s faces expecting someone to answer his queries, indicating that the local effort to tackle problems arising from the floods was weak.
The prime minister directed officials to make rehabilitation arrangements for the displaced in their respective districts. "As long as possible, make sure that they aren´t relocated," he said.
But officials informed him that the displaced are looking for safer places as being rehabilitated in the same place puts them at risk of future floods.
After talking to government officials, the prime minister told journalists that the government would leave no stone unturned to make sure that those affected by flood lead comfortable lives.
The prime minister was touring Achham, Kailali, Dadeldhura, Banke and Bardiya, among other districts, on Tuesday. He was accompanied by Nepali Congress Acting President Sushil Koirala and Finance Minister Surendra Pandey.
The prime minister, who is also the chairman of Special Committee on Integration, Rehabilitation and Management of Maoist Combatants, also said that integration will be carried ouut on the basis of past agreements.
He also said that Defense Minister Bidya Bhandari, who said the combatants should not be integrated into the national army, made the statement without consulting him. "Everything will be done as per the agreements," he added.
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