National
Flood-affected families seek aid
Hundreds of families affected by the flood of August 2017 in Rautahat district have been deprived of government relief.In the wake of the flood, the government had announced Rs 200,000 cash relief to the families displaced by the flood on top of a month-long food allowance of Rs 70 per person daily. For this purpose, the government had released Rs 150 million to the district.Shiva Puri
Hundreds of families affected by the flood of August 2017 in Rautahat district have been deprived of government relief.
In the wake of the flood, the government had announced Rs 200,000 cash relief to the families displaced by the flood on top of a month-long food allowance of Rs 70 per person daily. For this purpose, the government had released Rs 150 million to the district.
There are hundreds of displaced families in Rautahat who never saw that money, said Pramila Devi Dom, a flood victim from Rajdevi Municipality-8.
“There are nearly 300 flood-affected families in my village alone. Only 89 families have received the aid so far,” she said, adding that her family was not included on the aid list.
The families who have not received the government aid accused the government officials of handing out the relief only to those people who had political connections.
Ramdulari Devi, another flood survivor, said her family was living in a tiny shack after her home was swept away by the flood.
“There are many of us who are living this way because the government officials have not distributed the relief,” she said. Chief District Officer Govinda Prasad Rijal said the delay in aid distribution was caused due to the general elections of last year.
“We are doing the needful to ensure that the flood victims are compensated for their losses. We are also trying to include those families who were previously excluded from the aid list,” he said.