Miscellaneous
PM gives NRA until Oct 6 to issue first housing grants
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the National Reconstruction Authority to distribute the first tranche of the private house rebuilding aid to the remaining 130,000 families by October 6.Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the National Reconstruction Authority to distribute the first tranche of the private house rebuilding aid to the remaining 130,000 families by October 6.
Concerned over the NRA’s failure to meet the 45-day deadline—set by the PM upon assuming office on August 4—to provide the first instalment amounting to Rs50,000 of the aid, Dahal had called a meeting of the NRA Directive Committee
on Sunday, which continued on Monday discussing the challenges in distribution of the aid to the needy. This was the first meeting chaired by PM Dahal.
The PM directed the authority to submit a progress report with updates on aid distribution to the displaced families in the next Directive Committee meeting to be convened after a month.
The PM has scheduled a meeting of the National Reconstruction Council within 10 days, which will discuss the plans and policies for reconstruction works, including restructuring of the NRA, said Govinda Acharya, the PM’s press adviser. The council represented by ministers, leaders of the main opposition and other parties, representatives of the National Planning Commission, the NRA chief executive officer, bureaucrats, former prime ministers and representatives of the Nepal Rastra Bank will discuss the ongoing reconstruction works and recommend future plans and policies. Monday’s meeting formally endorsed the PM’s pledge to provide an additional Rs100,000 to the families listed as beneficiaries, taking the rebuilding grant to Rs300,000 for each family.
In the first instalment, Rs50,000 is being distributed to the earthquake-affected families, while Rs150,000 and Rs100,000 will be issued in the second and third instalments, respectively. There will also be an aid for building toilet, biogas plant or a solar lighting system in each household.