Kavre, September 19

Only one fourth of the earthquake victims from Kavre have received the first instalment of Rs 50,000 grant amount pledged by the government for reconstruction of quake-damaged houses.

Expressing its pledge to provide the first instalment of reconstruction grant by August 16, the government had earlier directed District Administration Office, Kavre, to provide the victims with the sum at the earliest.

District Administrative Officer at Kavre DDC, Dholakraj Dhakal, said only 12,253 families had received the grant amount through various banks by mid-August.

Dhakal informed that his office had signed the grant agreement with 55,485 quake victims by mid-August.

He added that the DDC had accelerated the process of providing the victims with the grant amount as soon as possible following the government’s directive. He said work to update the victims’ names, verify them and recommend the names to the Office of Accounts Controller were under way.

According to the DDC, the grant amount has been deposited in the accounts of 46,893 families in 31 banks and financial institutions.

Dhakal said despite the allocation of the grant, victims might not have immediate access to the money due to various banking formalities.

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