The government has announced a relief package worth Rs22.2 million for 22 cold-hit Tarai districts.

The Home Ministry, as directed by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who also looks after the home portfolio, took the decision on Monday to send relief materials to the areas in the plains reeling under excessive cold.

The ministry would distribute blankets, firewood and other relief materials among the needy families. The ministry has started preparations to dispatch blankets and other materials from the government’s stock to the affected districts.

The aid will be dispatched from Monday. Some of the goods are stored in the ministry’s humanitarian assistance cell and with the Armed Police Force, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said in a statement. These materials would be transported by the APF to the affected areas.

The aid will be distributed to the needy people on the recommendation of the respective Local Disaster Management Committees. The amount of money announced would be disbursed from the Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee.

The ministry has also instructed district authorities to establish temporary shelters at schools and public buildings for cold-affected children and elderly people.