15,000 families yet to get 2nd tranche of housing grant

Hetauda, December 24

Around 15,000 households in Makawanpur district have yet to receive the second tranche of the housing grant provided by the government.

According to data with Nepal Reconstruction Authority, as many as 22,738 quake victims had received the first instalment of the housing grant in the district. Of them, only 7,579 families have started reconstructing their houses.

District Project Implementation Unit under Urban Development Ministry said that as many as 14,979 have yet to register for the second instalment and it had no information about these households’ work progress.

Engineer Rabin Pathak said letters were sent to those quake victims who were out of contact, in coordination with District Coordination Committee.

It is said that the second instalment was not released as some of the beneficiaries reconstructed their houses without meeting the criteria set by the NEA.

Chief District Engineer Som Raj Timalsina said that municipalities and rural municipalities in the district did not provide the data even though letters were already sent requesting data. “We will make concrete plans after accurate data reaches the office,” he added.

As many as 31,817 families are in the list of earthquake victims in Makawanpur. Of them, 23,580 had only signed the agreement with NEA for housing grant. As many as 2,303 houses have been reconstructed in the district so far.