SINDHULI, Sept 24: A month-long special campaign of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) to distribute the first tranche of the relief amount has been partial success in Sindhuli as the campaign concluded without meeting its objectives in several VDCs of the district.
NRA had started the campaign a month ago in the 11 districts worst hit by last year's earthquakes. Under the campaign, they had planned to distribute the first tranche, Rs 50,000, by September 18. However, locals from several VDCs of the district including Nipane have not received the grant.
Engineers deployed by the NRA have listed 34,270 victims as eligible for the reconstruction grant from the district. Among them, only 19,658 victims have received the grant so far, according to Babindra Lal Majhi, Disaster Focal Person of the District Development Committee (DDC).
Photographs of Sindhuli on display
"Lack of necessary documents like land ownership certificate have hindered the progress. As of now, sixty percent of the victims have already received the first tranche. And the grant distribution process is gathering speed," added Majhi.
And in Nipane VDC almost all victims have been deprived of the grant because they lack land ownership certificates.
"As many as 201 victims out of the total of 206 victims of the VDC have failed to produce the certificate, without which they cannot be provided the grant amount," informed Indra Prasad Neupane, VDC secretary of Nipane.
With Dashain festival at the doorsteps, many victims who received the grant said they will use the money for festive celebrations. But those who have not received the grant are worried about tiding over the Dashain.
Quake victims in the district have also complained about the hassles involved in claiming the grant from the banks.
"I've been staying in the district headquarters for three straight days now. The bank says I have insufficient documents and wrong documents. The bank staffers do not provide us proper information and support," said one of the victims. Thirteen banks, including Rastriya Banijya Bank, are responsible for distributing the grant amount in the district.
