Kathmandu, Nov. 28
National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has again extended the deadline to receive the housing grant to the families which lost their houses in the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake but have not signed agreement for the grant or have not received the first and second instalments of the money.
However, it is a conditional opportunity, said the NRA.
The executive committee of the reconstruction body on Wednesday decided that the beneficiaries would be entitled to the grant facility only if they submitted the recommendation from the respective local bodies with the commitment to reconstruct their houses within the timeframe set by the NRA.
The beneficiaries who had not signed the grant agreement with the government by 6 June 2019 and had not obtained the first instalment of the money by 16 July this year can have the opportunity to get the grant. But the respective local government should ensure the house reconstruction and make recommendations to the District Project Implementation Unit (Grant Management and Local Infrastructure). The DPIU will investigate on the application and submit it to the District Reconstruction Facilitation Committee (DRFC).
DRFC has the authority to release the funds following a study of the application and commitment of the beneficiary to build house within the set deadline.
The new beneficiaries should obtain the first instalment by mid-January 2020 and the second instalment by mid-February next year.
The reconstruction body has extended the deadline for multiple times in the past. Recently, it had asked the quake-victims to obtain the grant by mid-November.
Chief Executive Officer of the NRA Sushil Gyawali said that the new opportunity might help some genuine victim-families to obtain the government grant. "We have re-extended the deadline on the request of beneficiaries and representatives of the local level," he said.
The NRA has set different deadlines for the families of integrated settlement, villages being relocated, landless and deprived people and beneficiaries in the Kathmandu Valley.
In their part, the identification of beneficiaries would be completed by mid-January 2020, first tranche of the grant should be disbursed by mid-February and the second and the third tranche should be distributed by mid-May and mid-July next year respectively.
The beneficiaries of the retrofitting should also obtain the last instalment of the grant by mid-July next year.
According to the NRA, reconstruction of about 62 per cent private houses damaged in the quake has completed and 24 per cent houses are under construction.
About 479,545 houses have been rebuilt so far and 189,141 are being reconstructed. The government has signed the grant agreement with 776,427 beneficiaries of which 99 per cent have received the first instalment of Rs. 50,000.
But the number of recipients of the second and third tranche is about 80 per cent and 67 per cent respectively.
The NRA has shifted 4024 families which were at the risk of post-quake landslides to safer locations. About 4,929 families were in the need of relocation.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 29 November 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment