319,912 households ‘real beneficiaries’

  The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is preparing to sign aid agreements with over 50 percent of the total quake-affected households that were identified by the Post Disaster Need Assessment conducted last year after the April 25 earthquake.

The reconstruction body has finalised the name list of “real beneficiaries” after re-verifying details of damage caused to houses and infrastructure.

“After going through the details collected so far, we have finalised 319,912 households as the beneficiaries from 11 districts that were worst affected by the quake,” said NRA Spokesperson Ram Thapaliya.

He said that the authority will begin signing aid agreements in 11 districts from Sunday when the country marks the first anniversary of the earthquake. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is set to lay the foundation stone of two private houses in Sindhupalchok and Okhaldhunga on the day.

Authority officials said the final name list of beneficiaries will be made public in villages of 11 districts where detailed damaged assessments have been completed.

Based on agreements made with the World Bank and other donors in August, the Central Bureau of Statistics had begun survey of damaged houses and infrastructure from January.  So far, the CBS has surveyed over 643,000 houses in 11 districts. Survey is yet to begin in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

The number of earthquake victims was estimated to be half a million when details were collected while preparing the PDNA. The number, however, increased to 770,000 when the government announced various relief packages and subsidised loans for quake victims.

Thapaliya said earthquake victims will get the housing aid money after signing the grant agreements with the local bodies in the presence of NRA officials. The government has announced Rs 200,000 as housing aid and up to Rs 2,500,000 in subsidised loan to each household rendered homeless.

The aid distribution process, however, is cumbersome, and will be completed in three phases. The victims will get Rs 50,000 in the first phase, Rs 80,000 in the second and Rs 70,000 in the last phase, according to NRA’s grant procedure guidelines.

The money will be released through banking channel. “We are holding discussions with the association of private banks to distribute money,” said Thapaliya.

But according to sources, the NRA and banks are yet to reach an agreement for the purpose. It is learnt that banks have sought Rs 10,050 for releasing money to each household. The NRA is at sea as to how it is going to manage such a huge sum of money which it will require if it has to pay Rs 10,050 for distributing money to each household.

Published: 23-04-2016 08:17

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