Khotang, June 3

Two years after the devastating earthquake that struck the country, authorities in Khotang have started providing housing grant to quake victims who lost their homes in the natural disaster.

Distribution of the grant started from Friday, with Chief District Officer of Khotang Prahlad Pokharel handing over a check bearing the first instalment of the grant amount to a victim Rimansingh Tamang of  Eselukharka Rural Municipality-2, Bakachol from the office of Salapa Development Bank.

According to the District Coordination Committee programme officer and focal person for housing construction, Rabi Kiran Acharya, a total of 1,354 victims will be obliged with the first grant installment via the Century Commercial Bank and Salapa Development Bank.

“While 518 beneficiaries of Halesi Tuwachung Municipality and Eselukharka Rural Municipality will receive the grant through the Salapa bank, the 836 victims from Kepilasgadhi and Lamidanda rural municipalities can receive it through the Century bank,” he said.

Apart from these banks, the Diktel-based Rastriya Banijya Bank and its Khotang Bazaar branches, the Bank of Kathmandu and the Jyoti Development Bank will also be distributing the grant to quake victims. Grant distribution from the banks to the victims of the remaining municipalities and rural municipalities is expected to start in a week’s time.

The quake victims will receive Rs 50,000 in the first installment. They will get Rs 150,000 and then Rs 75,000 in the second and third installments, respectively. They will receive an additional 25,000 rupees to build a lavatory.

As per the official data, as many as 13,799 houses were damaged from the massive earthquake of 2015 in the district.

Though the National Reconstruction Authority had dispatched grant amount for the district by the end of April itself, its distribution took time, given the National Reconstruction Authority’s delay in selecting the banks. “Though late, the victims have finally received the grant, which is a positive thing,” said the Chief District Officer Pokharel.