The government has extended the tenure of an inquiry commission on loan shark problems.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Tuesday extended the term until October 12, said Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma, who is also the government spokesperson, while making the Cabinet’s decisions public on Thursday.

After the victims protested in Kathmandu for several days asking for justice, the government in early April had formed a three-member inquiry commission under the leadership of Gauri Bahadur Karki, a former chairman of the Special Court, to resolve the problems of loan shark victims.

As of June 23, the commission had settled 564 cases through compromise.

After collecting the complaints, the commission had formed a task force in each district headed by an assistant chief district officer to try to settle the disputes through a compromise decree.

The commission has received over 21,000 complaints across 67 districts. Of the total complaints, Bara reported the highest number (3,322), according to the commission.

According to the commission, the victims are mostly concentrated in nine Tarai districts, particularly eight of the Madhesh Province.

Likewise, the Cabinet meeting approved the minimum support price for paddy, endorsed a visit by a delegation led by Foreign Minister NP Saud to Thailand for a retreat of BIMSTEC foreign ministers and extended the tenure of the cooperative sector reform suggestion task force among others, said Minister Sharma.