Kathmandu, May 17 The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has directed all district development committees of 14 districts most affected by the earthquakes to make necessary arrangements for mobilisation of local volunteers to facilitate distribution of household grants to earthquake victims and reconstruction of temporary houses. According to a letter sent to MoFALD by the National Reconstruction Authority, volunteers need to be mobilised from May 20 to June 3 for 15 days as per the Guideline on Mobilisation of Local Volunteers for the Construction of Temporary Housing and Distribution of Private Housing Grant. The government has already announced the distribution of a grant of Rs 200,000 to each beneficiary, who will have to enter into a grant agreement. An official at the MoFALD said the DDCs were told to entrust the concerned local development officers with the responsibility of arranging local volunteers for this purpose. The volunteers will facilitate the grant agreement to be executed between the concerned VDC secretary or executive officer of municipality and the beneficiary household. “The volunteers will also register complaints in relation to the agreement and assist the VDC or municipality in settling the issues as per the rules,” he informed, adding that the government is set to expedite the distribution of the grant before the onset of monsoon which generally startn from the second week of June. Thousands of earthquake survivors are still living in tents or sheds made of corrugate zinc sheets after they were rendered homeless. The volunteers will also be mobilised for the reconstruction of temporary houses as necessary. Volunteers willing to facilitate the distribution of grants and for receiving complaints should be from the concerned VDC or municipality. “Any organisation or political party that wishes to mobilise volunteers will be required to register with the concerned VDC or municipality,” said the official. However, volunteers from any part of the concerned district may participate in the reconstruction of temporary houses. “The volunteers should be physically sound and operate in a decent manner,” he said. Any person, who has not received training from district-level units of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction will not been considered eligible to work as a volunteer in the reconstruction of houses.