The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) said that most of the victims' families have already received the compensation amounts.
"District administration offices in the districts where the protestors died have already distributed the compensation amounts to the family members. The ministry had earlier released the necessary budget for the compensations," said Laxmi Dhakal, joint-secretary and spokesperson of MoHA.
According to the ministry, as many as 46 people including 11 security personnel have died after the protests took a violent turn, and over 950 people have been injured.
After the agitating Madhes-based parties set a preconditition that they would not sit for talks unless the government provides the compensation amounts to the victims' families and free medical treatment for the injured, the government on September 18 decided to provide Rs 1 million each to the families of security personnel and other individuals killed in the protests.
But the agitating parties have been saying that the families are yet to receive the money, and they even rejected the government's request for talks, accusing the government of not providing the compensation.
Home Minister Shakti Basnet, speaking at a parliamentary committee meeting on Wednesday, said that the ministry had already released a budget to the local bodies for the compensation and a majority of the victims' families had already collected the compensation money. "Still, some families might not have received the money as they were unable to reach the local bodies due to the protests. Family members of protestors who died in the recent incidents are yet to receive the compensation. We are in the process of releasing the amounts to those families as well," he added.
In recent incidents of violence in Saptari and Parsa districts, four protestors have lost their lives.
Rights activist Dipendra Jha, who returned to the capital on Wednesday from a visit to some districts in the tarai, also confirmed that a majority of the families have received the compensation amounts. "During my visit to the tarai, I met family members of the deceased protestors and they said they have received the compensation amounts from the local authorities. But some are yet to do so," he added.
He said he visited Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha and Mahottari districts to monitor the human rights situation.
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