Ramechhap, July 1

The government has signed agreements for the Rs 200,000 grant assistance with as many as 40,553 quake victims for rebuilding homes that were destroyed in devastating earthquakes last year.

The National Reconstruction Authority had included 43,069 households on the list of eligible beneficiaries of the state’s grant for earthquake victims. Ramechhap was the first district to sign agreements with the victims, with Local Development Officer at District Development Committee, Ramechhap Dinesh Raj Panta signing as the state’s representative.

In case any names of eligible beneficiaries are missing from the list, the victims can lodge a complaint at the VDC or the municipality office. Earlier, volunteers had reached various VDCs and municipalities of the district to extend their support to the quake victims.

Some locals, however, have stated that they would not allow the agreement to be executed until their demands are addressed. The signing of the agreement between victims and the state was obstructed in some VDCs owing to disputes over grant distribution.

Deepak Subedi, programme officer at District Development Committee, said 13,305 people had filed their complaints stating that they were excluded from the list of poverty-stricken families.

The hearing of the complaints will start after a few days.

Locals have demanded that the government should make the names of beneficiaries who have been excluded from the list public.

“The government has mistreated its citizens. It needs to include people whose houses collapsed during the earthquake on its list,” Hari Narayan Chaudhary of Tilpung said.