Kathmandu, January 26

The Safe Citizen Housing Implementation Procedure approved by the Council of Ministers on January 23 ensures arrangement of appropriate, safe and environment-friendly housing for people living below the poverty line and rendered homeless due to disasters.

As per the procedure, the government shall identify the beneficiaries on the basis of recommendation letter of the concerned local level and District Disaster Management Committee.

Only the families living in a hut or house with thatched roof which is vulnerable to fire, rain and storm will be benefited from this scheme.

“Priority shall be attached to families with senior citizens, orphans, single women and persons with disabilities. Any joint family is entitled to grant amount for only one housing unit,” it states.

The procedure has empowered the Safe Citizen Housing Coordination Committee led by a directly elected member of the House of Representatives to select the beneficiaries from among the families identified by the Federal Level Project Implementation Unit in the concerned constituency.

The FLPIU will enter into a grant agreement with the selected beneficiaries for the purpose of construction of safe housing.

The grant amount is provided through a banking channel in two instalments (60 per cent and 40 per cent).

“After receiving the first trance of grant amount, the concerned beneficiary shall proceed with housing construction by purchasing wood, corrugated zinc sheets and other materials.

The last instalment shall be released once the report from the concerned local level and technical confirms that the first instalment was properly used,” the procedure reads. However, it has not defined the amount to be provided to the beneficiaries.

The amount exceeding the grant for housing construction shall be borne by the concerned family. If the grant amount is not found to have used for the purpose for which it was provided, the FLPIU shall recover the cash from the concerned beneficiary as a government due.

The beneficiaries of post-earthquake reconstruction, disaster management or vulnerable settlement relocation, among other scheme, shall not be entitled to grand referred to in this procedure.