"We are starting the grant assistance distribution from Singati VDC of Dolakha district from March 3," said Madhu Sudhan Adhikari, acting secretary of NRA.
Since Tuesday, NRA has expedited preparations and deliberations with all the ministries and government agencies concerned, to begin the grant assistance distribution from Singati.
Adhikari said that the grant assistance distribution will gradually expand to the other quake-affected districts.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is likely to inaugurate the grant distribution, said officials at NRA.
"We are setting up a resource centre by the next few days to provide technical support as well as facilitate the grant distribution in Dolakha district. The grants will be distributed to the victims in three installments through banking channels," said Suresh Adhikari, spokesperson of NRA.
He said that the government will provide only technical and financail assistance and the victims will have to construct their houses themselves.
Of the Rs 200,000 grant amount, Rs 50,000 will be provided to the victims in the first installment, Rs 80,000 in the second and Rs 70,000 in the last installment, according to NRA.
Spokesperson Adhikari said that NRA has collaborated with the NGO Saksham, which will open bank accounts for the identified victims and make other necessary arrangements to provide the grant amounts released by the government.
"No victim will have to go to the bank. The district body will deposit the amount in their accounts and the victims will receive the cheque from the village development committee office. The NGO will facilitate cashing of the cheques," said Adhikari.
He said that the grant assistance will be distributed to 6,000 families of Dolakha district in a first phase, in coordination with the Ministry for Federal Affairs and Local Development.
Apart from the grant assistance, NRA will also start providing subsidized loans to the victims in Dolakha district. Rs 2,500,000 will be provided as subsidized loans to victims in urban areas while Rs 1,500,000 will be provided to the victims in rural areas.
Officials at NRA said that a damage assessment survey being carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in 10 quake-affected districts has verified that 144,000 houses were completely destroyed, out of the 498,852 houses assessed by the Post Disaster Needs Assessment as damaged.
"While the survey continues on one hand, the grant assistance distribution will also begin on the other. After Singati, we will soon start grant distributions in other districts," said spokesperson Adhikari.
He said CBS will complete the survey by April.
NRA officials, however, said that the delay by the Ministry of General Administration in deputing officials to NRA has hampered the reconstruction and rehabilitation work.
The earthquake victims constructing their houses should choose a model from among the 16 earthquake-resistant models developed by the government and make maximum use of local materials.
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