Urban centres lack infrastructures

Kathmandu, Sept. 29: Experts have raised concerns about inadequate infrastructures and amenities in sprawling urban areas.

Speaking at a talk programme on ‘Urban challenges and the role of private sector in Nepal’, they said that the new urban areas should be developed in a planned manner and should be equipped with the modern facilities.

The urban population makes up 42 per cent of the total population after government announced new municipalities in the last couple of years.

The country has 217 municipalities now.

But, they can generate only 27 per cent revenue for their total expenditure.

Executive member of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Kishor Thapa, who is also former secretary of the Urban Development Ministry, said, “All the municipalities are facing problems of low revenue, absence of resources and poor capacity. They don’t have land use and management policy. Severe energy crisis has dealt another setback to the urban development.”

According to Thapa, cities are the centre for civilization, development and political affairs.

Experts said that the absence of elected local bodies was another setback to the recently developed urban centres.

“We are facing unplanned and unregulated urban growth,” said Thapa.

Former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission and president of Nepal Institute for Urban and Regional Studies (NIURS) Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokharel said that urbanization was a force for growth through social and economic transformation.

“The government's decision to develop 10 modern cities along the Mid-Hill Highway will create opportunities for engineers, architects and planners,” he said.

He stated that the urban planning should be focused on managing the space as the open spaces had been rapidly shrunk in cities.

Chair of Urban Development Committee at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Om Rajbhandary demanded that the country should devise an urban development policy at the earliest.

“Even the capital and other sub-metropolitan cities lack basic facilities such as drinking water, sanitation and good environment,” he said.

He said that the private sector was supporting people in the cities with drinking water, entertainment, health and sanitation facilities.  

According to Rajbhandary, increasing urban areas provide good opportunities for the investors as there were demands for rental housing and other infrastructure where the private sector had an important role to play.

Former planner Suresh Prakash Acharya said that although the banks and financial institutions provide financing for the investment in the cities, they should not accept property that is at risk as collateral.

The talk programme was jointly organized by the FNCCI and NIURS.

Upper Marsyangdi 'A' starts electricity generation

Kathmandu, Sept. 26: Upper Marsyangdi ‘A’ hydroelectricity project Monday started generating electricity.

Minister for Energy Janardan Sharma Pravakar announced the commencement of power generation by the project.

With it 25 megawatt electricity has been connected to the national grid.

The hydropower project with 50 MW capacity in Bhulbhule VDC of Lamjung district was constructed by a Chinese and Nepali joint venture company Sinohydro-Sagarmatha Power Company (SSPC).

Sinohydro is the sister company of China’s state-owned PowerChina Resources Limited and Sagarmatha is the sister company of Chitwan Co-E. These companies have 90 per cent and 10 per cent share in the project respectively.

The company organized special events in Kathmandu and at the project site to mark the power generation of the project.

According to chairman of Sagarmatha Power Company Raju Babu Shrestha, the run-of-river based project was developed at the cost of Rs. 16 billion.

The cost includes the investment in constructing 132 KV single circuit transmission line, 20 km, from the powerhouse to Mid-Marsyangdi Hydropower Project.

The company has completed the construction of the transmission line in just six months, said managing director of SSPC Chen Wen.

He said that only two turbines were in operation currently and within a couple of months other two would start functioning.

Due to delay in construction of transmission lines and other technical difficulties, the company couldn’t run all the turbines.

The project was started in October 2012 and expected to be completed in December last year.

The company signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Nepal Electricity Authority in January 2010 and obtained license for electricity production. 

“But, the earthquakes and obstruction at the border affected the construction works at the project site which delayed the completion,” said Sheng Yuming, chairman of PowerChina.

Minister Pravakar said that the power generation of the Upper Marsyangdi ‘A’ came as the relief to Nepali people in the time of festivals.

He appreciated the partnership between Sagarmatha and Sinohydro and said that it would remain as a model for future endeavours of joint-ventures.

“This will send message to other investor that Nepal is safe for investment. It has opened new avenues for the energy sector development,” said the Minister.

He urged the Chinese investors to help Nepal in developing hydropower projects in Karnali.

Govt launches trade information portal

Kathmandu, Sept. 27: The government Tuesday launched an online trade information portal with the aim of supporting investment and trade facilitation in the country.

According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), the trade portal consolidates all the useful cross-border trade regulatory information in one online platform, providing easier and faster access to traders of all kinds of commercial goods.

The portal will help improve Nepal’s trade efficiency by empowering the trading community by providing immediate online access from a single source to all legislation, policies, procedures, tariff data and necessary guidelines from across trade-related bodies and organisations.

The portal has been developed with support from the World Bank under the Nepal India Regional Trade and Transport Project (NIRTTP).

“The portal will enhance and encourage transparency and accountability as well as reduce the duration that traders spend on acquiring the needed information for their businesses,” said Ishwari Prasad Ghimire, executive director of the TEPC.

Secretary of Commerce Naindra Prasad Upadhyaya said that the government was committed to creating a favourable environment for promotion of trade and business in order to make it competitive at the international level by reducing non-tariff barriers along with enhancing trade facilitation measures to promote trade in a sustained way.

“I strongly feel that such solutions that empower the business community by reducing the time for document preparation while ensuring compliance will have direct impact on Nepal’s ‘ease of doing business’ ranking and specifically the measure of ‘trading across borders,” said Minister for Commerce Romi Gauchan Thakali.

The portal, www.nepaltradeportal.gov.np, is accessible in English and Nepali.

Deputy director of TEPC Surendra Nath Gongal said that the government was planning to showcase the profiles of traders and their products on the portal.

The portal will also have a ‘search and query’ function, through which interested users can access trade statistics to analyse trends or potential new opportunities.

'PM Dahal's visit fruitful for trade and investment'

Kathmandu, Sept. 28: Minister for Commerce Romi Gauchan Thakali Wednesday said that the recent visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to India had opened new avenues for diplomatic, trade and investment relations between the two nations.

Speaking at a seminar on “PM Dahal’s India visit:  impact on bilateral trade, business and investment”, he termed the visit successful in rebuilding trust and mutual understanding between the two neighbours.

“The visit was primarily focused on timely implementation of all understandings and agreements made earlier. Both countries have agreed to expedite the implementation of Power Trade Agreement (PTA), Raxaul-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline and many other projects,” said Thakali.

Chief executive officer of the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) Maha Prasad Adhikari said that the visit helped the Nepalese business community and policy makers to understand value of Indian investors.

“A clear message about the investment environment in the country has been delivered to the potential Indian investors. We urged them for more investment as the Indian investment in Nepal was doing extremely well,” he said.

Adhikari stated that the Indian investors wanted to establish centers of excellence in Nepal.

Indian ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae maintained that there were numerous high level exchanges between Nepal and India at the state level in the last two years which amply suggested that both the nations had attached importance to bilateral relations.

He said: "The significance of visit is in its problem solving."

“Hydropower and service sector are key to Nepal’s economic growth. Nepal can be a good tourist destination for the Indian people,” he said.

Rae emphasized developing Hindu and Buddhism circuit covering religious centres in both the countries.

He suggested that both the country should set trade target for next five or ten years and work to meet the target.

Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Chandra Ghimire urged to activate sectoral business and trade mechanism to attract more investment to Nepal and increase the export size.

President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Hari Bhakta Sharma said that Nepal needed to work on marketing Nepalese goods and services in the international markets including India.

According to Sharma, agro-processing industry had a huge potential in the country.

Chairman of the Hydro Committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Gyanendra Lal Pradhan said that the implementation of BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) Motor Vehicle Agreement would increase the mobility of goods and people and increase the size of intra-regional trade.

The programme was organized by the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs.

19 dead in Dhading accident

Kathmandu, Sept. 27: At least 19 people were killed and 13 others injured when an overloaded bus veered off the road accident at Lapang Phedi of Marpak in Dhading district Tuesday morning.

The ill-fated bus, Ba 4 Kha 3318, had left for Marpak from Dhadingbeshi, the district headquarters, informed Nepal Police.

The bus fell 250 metres from the steep hill and hurtled onto the banks of Aankhu river.

The accident site is about 35 kilometre away from Dhadingbeshi.

According to chief district officer of Dhading Bishwa Prakash Subedi, 18 passengers died on the spot while one succumbed to the injuries at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj in Kathmandu.

Seriously injured 13 passengers were airlifted to the Teaching Hospital. Most of the injured have sustained injuries on their face, hands and legs.

Subedi said that about 35 passengers were traveling in the bus.

The bodies of 13 passengers were identified by the evening. Most of the deceased were from Satyadevi and Ri village. They had gone to the district headquarters to receive the first installment of house reconstruction grant, Rs 50,000.

The deceased were identified at Rusing Tamang, Mendi Jong Tamang, Ralk Tamang, Serlak Tamang and his 5 years old son, and Til Bahadur Tamang of Satyadevi VDC, Chandra Man Tamang, Man Tamang and Kasa Lama Tamang of Ri VDC, Ram Chandra Sapkota of Darkha VDC, and Dil Kumari Poudel and her daughter kamala Poudel of Marpak VDC. The bus driver Ganga Sunar also died on the spot.  

There was a landslide and road was cleared of debris by the locals before the operation of vehicles but the soil of the road was damp and fragile,” said Subedi.

A large number of security personnel from Dhadingbeshi and two police posts around the accident area have been mobilized at the accident site.

“In addition to that, local people have helped in rescuing injured. They have not left the accident site,” said CDO Subedi. 

with inputs and photo from Murari Adhikari, Dhading

Ag has huge potential for value addition: Pun

Kathmandu, Sept. 27: Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun Tuesday said that the country must be self-reliant on agricultural products including dairy, fruit and vegetables.

Speaking on the occasion of the launching of ‘Dairy Mirror’, a Nepal Dairy Association (NDA) publication, and Dairy Expo at Baneshwor Banquet, VP Pun said, “Agriculture is the sector with huge potential for value addition, export business and employment generation.”

He expressed concerns over the declined contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but stated that the contribution of the dairy sector to the GDP was satisfactory and on the growing trend.

The dairy sector has 9 per cent contribution to the GDP.

He urged the government to provide subsidy on feed, equipment and technology transfer in order to develop the dairy sector.

VP Pun was much concerned over the farmers being cheated by middlemen.

“There is a huge gap between what farmers get by selling their products and consumers pay to buy these products. The farmers must get the appropriate price of their goods,” he said.

Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Bhawani Rana said that the government has failed to develop and promote the dairy and other agriculture related products.

“Agriculture can create self employment and many other jobs and it can significantly contribute to the national economy. But, government and policy makers have failed to tap the potential of this sector through better policies,” said Rana.

President of the NDA Sumit Kedia informed that about 450,000 farmer households were involved in the dairy sector and the dairy industry had employed approximately 20,000 people.

There is about Rs. 15 billion investment in the dairy sector.

The country produces 4,800,000 liters per day and 1,700,000 metric tons per year.

According to the NDA statistics, the dairy business sends about Rs. 30 million from the urban areas to the villages daily.

Established in 1998, the NDA has 175 members. The Dairy Mirror is an annual publication of the Association that includes articles related to milk and dairy industry written by the experts.

Grant money raised to 3 lakh

Kathmandu, Sept. 26: The Steering Committee of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Monday decided to increase the house reconstruction grant money from existing Rs. 200,000 to 300,000.

The money will be distributed to the families who lost their houses in the quake last year in three installments - Rs. 50,000, Rs. 150,000 and Rs. 100,00.

Chief executive officer of the reconstruction body Sushil Gyawali has proposed to mobilize the money in the existing three installments format.

However,  Rs. 25,000 from the third installment should be mandatorily used to construct toilet, biogas and install solar lights in the house.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had announced to increase the grant money after the assuming the post.

The meeting of the Committee has passed the NRA budget for the fiscal year 2016/17.

Chairman of the committee PM Prachanda directed the NRA to convert its Sub-Regional Offices in the districts to District Coordination Committee secretariat and mobilize them to conduct monitoring of the reconstruction works.

He directed to expedite grant agreement process in the Kathmandu Valley. 

House grant 3 lakh in three installments

Kathmandu, Sept. 25: The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has proposed distributing the housing reconstruction grant of Rs. 300,000 in three installments – Rs. 50,000, Rs. 150,000 and Rs. 100,000.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had announced to increase the grant money from Rs. 200,000 to Rs. 300,000.

NRA chief executive officer Sushil Gyawali proposed increasing the amount instead of increasing installments.

As per earlier decision, the government has deposited the first installment of the grant money into the bank accounts of 393,677 families of the worst quake-hit 11 districts.

The number is about 74 per cent of the total beneficiaries in those districts.

The proposal was tabled at the meeting of the NRA Steering Committee held Sunday which was chaired by the PM Prachanda who also chairs the committee.

The meeting will also make decision over providing interest free loan of Rs. 300,000.

Housing reconstruction grant agreement was signed with 454,015 families in 11 districts that consist of 85 per cent of the total identified beneficiaries.

According to a report submitted by the Central Level Programme Implementation Unit (CLPIU) at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development to the meeting, around 170,453 families have registered their complaints at various agencies of the government demanding that they should be included in the list of beneficiaries.

The report said that the government couldn’t sign housing grant agreement with 845 families in Hatpate VDC of Sindhuli as other households obstructed the agreement demanding to address their complaints first.

Many families couldn’t sign the agreement in Sindhupalchowk as their houses were constructed in unregistered land.

Similarly, as the number of households in the proposed Budhigandaki dam area in Dhading and Gorkha has yet to be fixed, the agreement process has come to a halt there.

The grant agreement couldn’t be signed with about 1,672 families in the Budhigandaki area in Gorkha alone.

Problems related to the inheritance sharing of the land, migration, lack of land ownership certificates, and absence of genuine beneficiaries obstructed making agreements and distributing grants.

The number of families that couldn’t sign the grant agreement due to Budhigandaki project stood at 3,560, those living in the unregistered land are 7,884, those living in the land belonging to the trust are 3,592, those living in the land prone to landslides are 1,392, and those facing locals’ obstruction are 2,783.  

Meanwhile, the government had completed the survey of 104,558 families in the Kathmandu Valley.

 Gyawali said that the reconstruction grant signing programme would start in the Valley a couple of days. 

Walkathon to commemorate Nepal-Japan ties

Kathmandu, Sept. 24: On the occasion of the 60 years of the establishment of bilateral relations between Nepal and Japan, Nepal Chamber of Commerce organized a walkathon on Saturday.

The walkathon started from the NCC building at Kantipath and reached the Basantapur Durbar square through Bhotahiti, Asan, Indrachowk, Makhan and Hanumandhoka.

Minister for Supply Dipak Bohara, commerce secretary Naindra Prasad Upadhya, secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jhabindra Ojha Japanese ambassador to Nepal Masasi Ogawa, and vice presidents of NCC released the pigeons wishing peace and prosperity to both of the countries and people.

Local people welcomed the guests and participants, and put ‘tika’ and showered flower on them.

The NCC is organizing a special programme at the Chamber Expo 2016 that is going on at the Bhrikutimandap to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Japan is participating as a country partner in the expo.

The Chamber is organising interactions, cultural programmess and other events in collaboration with the embassy of Japan, Kathmandu and other stakeholders to celebrate the cordial bilateral relations between Nepal and Japan. 

Engineers call off their strike

Kathmandu, Sept. 23: Agitating engineers deployed at the quake-hit districts to assist the reconstruction work Friday called off their strike.

The engineers had been protesting for a couple of weeks demanding a raise in their perks and benefits.

The strike was called off after the talks involving the representatives of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Central Project Implementation Unit (CPIU) of the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and the agitating engineers at Singhadurbar.

NRA joint-secretaries Kali Prasad Parajuli and Janardan Guragain, and CPIU chief Shiva Hari Sharma updated the team of engineers led by president of Nepal Engineers’ Association Dhruba Raj Thapa that the MoUD and NRA had sent separate proposals to the Ministry of Finance demanding increase in the perks and benefits of the technical manpower involved in the reconstruction work.

“It is necessary to motivate the young engineers for better results in the reconstruction process,” said Ram Prasad Thapaliya, NRA spokesperson.

Thapaliya said the government had agreed to provide additional facilities to the engineers as per the resources available and engineers had agreed they would resume their work in the field from Sunday.

About 2,800 engineers were on strike. Due to the strike, housing grant agreement and grant money distribution were affected.

The NRA has said that as the engineers had consented to resume their work, the reconstruction process would catch speed.

Govt serious to promote investment

Lalitpur, Sept. 23: Minister for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi Friday said that the government was seriously pursuing ways to create more favourable investment and industrial environment in every district through the promotion of private sector and investment.

Inaugurating a training programme on ‘Branding and integrated marketing communications’ organized by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Minister Joshi said that there was no alternative to developing industry, enhancing productivity and obtaining high economic growth without private sector development.

“In a liberal economy, private sector has to play a crucial role to push the economy forward. Therefore, I urge the business community to increase investment. The government is ready for the Private-Public-Partnership, too,” he said.

He urged the private sector to join hands with the government in operating the state-owned industries that had long been shut due to various reasons.

He informed that the government was planning to call proposals from cottage, small and medium scale entrepreneurs with an aim to assist them in upgrading their businesses.

Minister Joshi appreciated CNI for its efforts in enhancing the capacity of human resources through intensive training and orientation.

CNI president Hari Bhakta Sharma said that as the industrial development required continuous training, study and skill enhancement, CNI had established the Center for Industrial Excellence to cater to these needs.

He urged the government to provide the center with necessary economic, physical, and policy assistance.

Indian brand expert, Manush Sengupta, and professor Ujjwal Chaudhary are facilitating the three-day training.

About 52 managers and other officials from bank, industry, service, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, insurance and other business houses are attending the training.

Governor concerned over increasing microfinance share price

Kathmandu, Sept. 22: Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal Thursday expressed serious concerns over the ever-growing stock price of the shares of micro-finance companies.

Addressing the 10^th Annual General Assembly of the Nepal Microfinance Bankers’ Association (NMBA), Dr. Nepal said that the high prices of micro-finance shares had distorted the market.
”This is very unusual. Share price of some commercial banks vying for the paid up capital of Rs. 8 million is hovering around Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 while the share price of microfinance companies with Rs. 10 million to Rs. 100 million is around Rs. 5,000,” he remarked.

He said that the NRB had communicated its concerns to the capital market regulator, Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON).

The Governor urged the micro-credit institutions to go to the mountain and Karnali region and extend their services to poor people.

“Most of the microfinance banks are city-centred. There is an unhealthy competition in this sector. Microfinance was started with a motto to serve the people specially women and help them develop entrepreneurship,” said Dr. Nepal.

Saying that about 60 per cent of the population did not have access to the formal financial institution, he asked the microfinance to help the poor people with financial support in their entrepreneurial venture.

Vice-president of the NMBA Ram Chandra Joshi said that quality of microfinance institutions had been degrading over the years.

“Unhealthy competition and customer duplication has increased the risks,” he said.

He stated that some microfinance institutions had been trying to forge collaboration with the commercial banks in mobilizing 2 per cent lending to the deprived sector.

President of Nepal Bankers’ Association Upendra Poudel said that although it was difficult, commercial banks were ready to collaborate with the microfinance companies in catering services to the entrepreneurs who were graduated from the microfinance and were in search of more loans.

President of Development Bankers’ Association Nepal Krishna Raj Lamichhane appreciated microfinance banks for their efforts in making women self-reliant.

President of NMBA Dharma Raj Pandey said that the sector needed self-regulation in terms of interest rate, service charge  and other business aspects.

There are 46 microfinance companies in Nepal. 

Unilever to open its factory

Kathmandu, Sept. 22: The Unilever Nepal Limited (UNL) Thursday announced that it was lifting the lock-out at its factory at Hetauda in Makwanpur district.

Issuing a press statement the company management informed that the factory would come into operation soon.  

The company had imposed the lock-out on at the factory on August 7^th this year claiming that the strike called by the Trade Unions obstructed the production process.

A tripartite meeting among the unions, company management and president of the Makwanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) held on Wednesday decided to solve the issue.

“The company agreed to reopen its factory by withdrawing lockout as an outcome of the meeting wherein representative of the two workers’ union extended an assurance of good conduct and productive engagement for the functioning of the factory,” read the statement.

The MCCI, District Administration Office, Makwanpur and District Labour Office had been trying to find resolution to the issue along with the trade unions and company management. 

Remembering the Blockage after a year

Kathmandu, Sept. 21: Today last year, two days after the promulgation of the constitution, the Indian blockade on Nepal started.

The southern neighbour clamped an unofficial embargo on Nepal showing its reservation about the new constitution.

The blockade continued for almost five months.

It brought untold miseries to Nepali people, who faced a severe shortage of petroleum oil, cooking gas and essential commodities during the major festivals.

The supply obstruction created a huge shortage of petroleum and essential items in the domestic markets and people queued up at the petrol pumps, gas dealers and grocery stores to get essential fuel and items through controlled distribution mechanism.

Shortage of goods gave rise to black markets.

A comparative study of the price of goods before and during the blockade by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) found that people were compelled to pay more than 500 per cent of the actual cost to buy a liter of petroleum oil and cooking gas.

The country celebrated three largest festivals- Dashain, Tihar and Chhath- amidst the shortage and frustration.

As the country is heavily dependent on India for the supply of goods, including food and petroleum, the blockade affected every aspect of life in Nepal.

According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), Nepal imported goods of Rs. 500 billion in 2014/15.

The state-owned Indian Oil Corporation, the sole supplier of petroleum products to Nepal, did not fill the oil tankers and gas bullets even though the Indian government kept on denying that it had imposed the blockade at Nepal-India border points.

During the five months of blockade, India sent petroleum that would barely meet about 15 to 25 per cent of the total domestic demand in Nepal.

The Indian and Nepali media reported that India was unhappy about the multiple provinces in Madhesh and citizenship provisions in the constitution while some believed that Bihar elections were also the reasons behind the blockade as Modi wanted to use it as a strategy to win the polls in the state.    

India kept on reiterating that the blockade was created due to the sit-in protests of the Terai based political parties at the ‘no-man’s land’.

However, the protests were centred in Birgunj and Bhairahawa customs. But, India did not listen to Nepal’s request to route the goods and petroleum from other border points like Biratnagar, Pashupatinagar and Mahendranagar.  

As the blockade followed the devastating earthquakes in the April and May last year that killed about 9,000 people and injured approximately 22,000 people, it had severe repercussions on the reconstruction and rehabilitation works.

As the relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction works were badly affected as the goods couldn’t be transported to the quake-hit areas due to the shortage of petroleum products, international community had time and again requested all three sides – the government, India and agitating forces in the Terai – for their cooperation in transportation of relief materials.

Nepal’s foreign trade was another sector affected by the obstruction on the border.

Nepal’s export trade plummeted by approximately 17.54 per cent last year.

Foreign Trade Statistics published by the Department of Customs shows that Nepal’s export to India stood at Rs. 39 billion in the last fiscal from Rs. 55 billion in the fiscal year 2014/15.

However, the blockade forced Nepal to find was of trade diversification.

KP Oli-led government expedited the construction of Galchhi-Rasuwagadhi road. Nepal Army is constructing the road, signed pact with China for petroleum trade and railway line development up to Nepal-China border.

People are relieved this year that the supplies are smooth and the government has promised to monitor the market. 

NRA warns those who misappropriate housing grant

Kathmandu, Sept. 21: The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Wednesday warned of stern actions against those who obtain the house reconstruction grant by unfair means and misappropriate it.

The reconstruction body has received hundreds of complaints from the districts claiming that the families that did not fulfill the criteria of an earthquake victim had been receiving the grant money.

Issuing a statement, the NRA said that it was seriously concerned about such complaints and would take necessary action against those who abused the grant money.

"The house grant agreement has a provision to punish those who receive grants by feeding wrong information” said spokesperson of the NRA Ram Prasad Thapaliya.

But, it has not stopped people from violating the provision.

According to the NRA, if anyone gets money meant for the quake victims by unfair means and if such actions were proved after investigation the money would be recovered from them as government arrears and they will be punished as per the law.

Likewise, the families that misappropriate the first installment of the grant, Rs. 50,000, would not be eligible for the second installment.

Apart from these provisions, earthquake resistant measures should be followed while constructing the house and it should be as per the models prescribed by the government.

In its statement, the reconstruction body has urged not to obtain the grant money by submitting false information and immediately return the money if anyone has acquired money in such way.

As per the reconstruction related laws, only those families will receive the money, whose house was completely damaged in the tremors, do not have house in any other locations and have been included in the beneficiaries list of the government.

The government is distributing the first installment of the house reconstruction grant in 11 severely hit districts.

Thapaliya said that about 70 per cent of the quake victims from those 11 districts had received the first installment by September 20.

About 533,000 families in those districts have signed the grant agreement with the government and 380,520 families have received the first installment so far.

The government has failed to meet the target announced by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to distribute the grant within 45 days.

About 48 days went by since the PM’s announcement.  

While the NRA is yet to initiate survey in 17 quake-hit districts and survey is underway in the districts of the Kathmandu Valley, the government has received approximately 170,400 complaints demanding that they should be included in the beneficiaries list.

So far, no complaints have been addressed.