Kathmandu, April 7 The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has instructed the Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) to immediately make arrangements to fill vacant posts of secretaries in earthquake-hit village development committees (VDCs) to facilitate grant distribution process. The instruction comes at a time when the NRA has initiated the process of extending first instalment of grant to every owner whose house was destroyed by the earthquakes of last April and May. The NRA is extending a grant of Rs 200,000 in three instalments of Rs 50,000, Rs 80,000 and Rs 70,000 to quake survivors who lost their homes to devastating quakes. Although the grant distribution process has begun, at least 125 VDCs of quake-hit districts do not have secretaries with whom quake survivors have to seal an agreement to obtain the grant. “The MoGA must coordinate with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development in this regard to ensure all vacant posts of VDC secretaries are filled,” minutes of the meeting of the NRA held on Sunday say. The meeting was held under chairmanship of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is also the chair of NRA, and was attended by Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel, Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel, Forest and Soil Conservation Minister Agni Prasad Sapkota and Chief Secretary Som Lal Sudedi, among others. The NRA had started signing agreements with quake survivors to extend first instalment of grant amount on March 13. The process began from Dolakha district. Since then, at least 641 households in Lamidada and Ladruk villages of Dolakha have sealed the deals, making themselves eligible for the grant amount. NRA has also identified at least 1,178 grant beneficiaries in Jhagajholi VDC of Sindhuli, 970 beneficiaries in Rawiopi of Kavre, 408 beneficiaries in Kharanitar of Nuwakot and 759 beneficiaries in Okhreni of Ramechhap. Also, 47 grant beneficiaries have been identified in Rumjhatar of Okhaldhunga, 193 in Bridim of Rasuwa, 1,003 in Mapark in Dhading and 944 in Hansapur of Gorkha. Agreements with these beneficiaries would be signed beginning Sunday, the NRA said. The NRA had earlier made it mandatory for grant beneficiaries to submit a copy of land ownership certificate when signing the agreement. “Since many quake survivors do not have these documents, chances of them being excluded during grant distribution process have gone up,” the meeting acknowledged. The PM-led meeting has instructed the NRA Secretariat to find an amicable solution to address this problem. The quakes have claimed around 9,000 lives, completely destroyed around 591,647 private houses, affected livelihoods of about 5.6 million workers and caused damage and losses worth around Rs 706.46 billion. KATHMANDU: The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has directed the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) to ensure offices of important public institutions devastated by the earthquakes are rebuilt using domestic financial resources. These structures include offices of the president and vice president, building of the Supreme Court, buildings inside Singha Durbar complex, headquarters of Nepali Army and the building of the National Human Rights Commission.