Shelter for deprived families a govt priority: Jhakri

Lalitpur, Nov. 25

Minister for Urban Development, Ram Kumari Jhakri, Thursday said that the government has given priority to providing houses for the deprived families.

"Government has formulated a law to provide shelter to Dalits, Muslims and other deprived communities. People's Housing Programme (PHP) is being executed across the country to support poor families in getting a place of residence," she said while speaking at the third ‘Asia Shelter Forum (ASF)’ in Lalitpur on today.

The PHP was launched about 12 years ago which has built 24,000 units of houses in seven provinces and additional 35,000 houses are in the pipeline.

There is also a government programme to replace the thatched roofs with zinc sheets.

"About 168,000 beneficiaries are chosen for the programme and the grant is recently increased to Rs. 75,000 from the earlier purse of Rs. 50,000 per household," said Minister Jhakri.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Executive Officer of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Sushil Gyawali, said that right to shelter and housing is the fundamental right in Nepal.

According to him, the government had also supported in building houses for vulnerable people, including the elderly, single women, orphans below 16 years of age and disabled people with red and blue cards - complete and with severe disability.

Of about 18,000 deprived families that lost their houses in the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015, government built houses for more than 14,000 families.

He stated that the reconstruction drive has also helped in policy formulation for build back better, training of masons and other construction workers and awareness building.

Tri Ratna Bajracharya, President of Nepal Engineers' Association (NEA), said that the engineers are the backbone of national development, in disaster risk reduction and building safe shelters.

He pledged the NEA's support in providing services and training to the engineers and local governments.

Likewise, Anil Pokharel, Chief Executive Officer of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), maintained that the principles countries should follow during the disasters are same everywhere around the globe.

"All governments across Asia think about sustainable policies for disaster risk reduction and management. Subnational governments must be roped in for creating policies and mitigation process," he said.

The two-day regional conference is being hosted by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) with the support from the ASF Organising Committee members.

About 200 participants, including the representatives from government and non-government bodies, private sector organisations and development partners, and individuals are participating in the conference in-person while about 350 are joining it via online medium, said Dr. Dijan Bhattarai, Spokesperson for the NDRRMA.

A field meeting will be organised for the international delegates on November 27 where they will have an opportunity to witness Nepal’s reconstruction efforts and cultural heritage preservation, and to interact with local government officials and community members.

According to the organisers, this regional forum will encourage continuous dialogue between governments, non-governmental organisations, and community based organisations to ensure sustainability and institutionalisation of best practices. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 November 2021.