Minraj BK of Phaichok in Rupa Rural Municipality, Kaski district, would often stare at the cracked walls of his house that was damaged during the 2015 earthquake, worrying about how to repair the house since it was not in the list of quake-affected houses.

However, to his relief, he was eligible for the government’s ‘People’s Housing Programme’ that promised him an aid to reconstruct his damaged house. BK hired a dozer, dismantled his house and worked on the foundation. But one-and-a-half months since he laid the foundation, BK is still waiting for the promised aid to arrive.

There are nine other families in Phaichok like BK who have been waiting for the government aid under the housing programme. Some have laid the foundation of their homes while others have demarked their land, but none of them have received the government funding.

“We don’t know what to do. We cannot sleep in our old house, as it has become uninhabitable and there is no sign of building our new homes anytime soon,” said BK, who had arrived at the Urban Development and Housing Office in Pokhara to seek information about the aid.

Meanwhile, in Pumdibhumdi of Pokhara-22, Yam Bahadur BK and 15 other families received the first instalment of the government aid but they have yet to receive the second instalment. Among them, eight families who dismantled their quake-damaged houses are living under temporary shelters made out of corrugated zinc sheets.

“We have borrowed hardware materials, ballast and sand, among other things, from traders, promising to pay them after receiving the aid,” said Yam Bahadur.

Many people in the province have dismantled their houses in the hopes of receiving the government fund, but they have been forced to take loans personally to put a roof over their heads.

“The corrugated zinc sheets have so far prevented rainwater from seeping into the house, but we have loans to repay and the money we earn is just enough to feed our families,” said Ratna Bahadur Charmakar of Baglung Municipality-4.

As per the government housing programme, people from Dalit, Muslim, impoverished, endangered and marginalised communities are entitled to receive Rs 332,500 in four instalments to build a home. In Kaski, of the 158 families who were listed to receive the aid, only 57 families have received the first instalment amounting to Rs 83,125.

The programme was handed over by the federal government, with conditions, to the provincial governments last year. However, the Gandaki Province only formulated a working procedure and did not allot budget for the programme until this year.

Sudip Timilsina, a Pokhara-based housing office engineer, said the applicants will receive 25 percent of the aid after laying the foundation, 30 percent after carrying out a Damp Proof Course (DPC), 35 percent after demarking their land and the remaining 10 percent after putting up the roof.

Timilsina said that although they are providing technical assistance to the locals, the rebuilding process has hit a snag due to untimely disbursement of the aid amount.

“We have asked the applicants to build their houses by taking loans for now,” said Timilsina, “We have assured them of distributing the lump-sum aid amount once the house has been completed.”

However, Ishwor Marahatta, secretary of Gandaki Province Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, said that the provincial government has not been able to provide the aid due to the delay in disbursement of the budget by the central government.

“We have not allotted the budget for the programme, as we were told that the budget for the housing programme will be given by the federal government,” Marahatta said.

The situation is the same in all the other districts of the province. One-hundred and nine houses in Baglung district, 100 houses in Myagdi district, and 50 families in Mustang district were included to receive the government aid to rebuild their homes.

Indra Lal Sapkota, Gandaki Province lawmaker, said that they are yet to receive the budget for the programme despite numerous efforts and pleas at the Province House Meet and the concerned ministry.