Thousands of quake victims left in a lurch

Dhading, March 27

Thousands of families that lost their houses to the devastating earthquake of April 2015 have yet to receive the government’s reconstruction grant in Dhading.

As many as 15,510 families, who were missed out in the first round of victims’ data collection, had requested the National Reconstruction Authority for a recount in the district.

However, only 342 families were considered eligible to receive the grant in the second round of data collection.

The authority has decided to collect the data of 12,151 families citing lack of previous details related to them, while 2,169 families were deemed ineligible as they owned multiple property.

Similarly, the authority has refused to recognise 6,294 families as victims because they are homeless, whereas 641 other families were snubbed for failing to submit adequate documents.

Of the total 70,582 families that were listed as beneficiaries of the government’s reconstruction grant, 64,724 have signed the grant contract so far in the district. Of them, 62,890 families have received the first instalment of the grant, as per sources at Dhading District Coordination Committee.

According to Information Officer at the District Coordination Committee Bhola Gautam, the process of releasing the second instalment of the reconstruction grant will begin soon.

“So far, we have recommended 55 names for the second instalment. They will soon receive the grant amount,” he said.