NRA flooded with 73,187 complaints

Kathmandu, June 22

Over 73,000 families that lost their homes to the devastating earthquakes of April and May 2015 have lodged complaints that they have been excluded from the list of beneficiaries that can help them lay claim to the housing grant of Rs 200,000 being extended by the government.

The Central Project Implementation Unit has said that a total of 73,187 households from 11 quake-hit districts have registered their complaints with the National Reconstruction Authority, claiming that the survey conducted to determine the eligible beneficiaries has excluded them.

CPIU is the mechanism that mobilises the housing grants under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development.

Following mounting grievances at the local level, the NRA started collecting complaints lodged at all the village development committees and municipalities of the quake-hit 11 districts, where the beneficiary survey had been commissioned, since last month. The parliamentarians and opposition parties have also questioned the credibility of the beneficiary survey.

The highest number of complaints — 15,027 — have been registered at the worst-hit Dolakha district, followed by Ramechhap (12,225) and earthquake epicentre Gorkha (11,296).

As many as 7,621 complaints have been received from Nuwakot, 5,040 from Okhaldhunga, 3,474 from Sindhupalchowk , 2,565 from Dhading, 2,525 from Kavre and 1,300 from Sindhuli. While 218 complaints were lodged in Makawanpur, the least number of complaints have been filed at Rasuwa — 196.

NRA is in the process of preparing Complaints Redressal Guideline to address the grievances.

“We are close to finalising the guideline and submitting it to the steering committee meeting of the NRA,” informed NRA Spokesperson Ram Prasad Thapaliya.

The guideline will come into force after the steering committee chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli endorses it.

The draft guideline talks about addressing the general complaints at the local level and serious complaints by the centre, Thapaliya said. “NRA will look into all the complaints received from the quake-affected households.”

Beneficiaries of four affected districts — Gorkha, Dolakha, Okhaldhunga and Sindhupalchowk — have started receiving the first instalment of the grant to rebuild their houses.