The government has a spent over Rs 3 billion on winter relief programme for the victims of the April 25 and May 12 earthquakes in 22 districts, according to the Home Ministry.

The amount was released so the quake victims could buy clothes and blankets after reports about their hardships because of cold.

The winter relief programme was taken to the districts, including Gorkha, Sindhupalchok, Dolakha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Ramechhap, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. The concerned district administration offices distributed Rs 10,000 to Rs 302,266 to the quake-affected households through VDC and municipality offices, the ministry has said in its website.

In Sindhupalchok, the relief cash was distributed to 71,299 households. The government had  earmarked Rs 755 million for the district. The district has demanded an additional Rs 103 million in winter relief programme.

According to the ministry, 22,082 households received the relief cash in Gorkha. Rs 400 million was earmarked for Gorkha, and each household received Rs 10,000. The district has demanded an additional Rs 300 million.

 The ministry said the relief cash was distributed to 13,000 households in Dhading and 23,750 households in Dolakha. In Kathmandu, the winter relief reached 21,020 households.

Narayan Gopal Malego, secretary at the ministry, said the relief distribution is still underway and that they still require an additional Rs 959.75 million to address the need of all earthquake-hit families. He added that they have requested the Finance Ministry to release the required sum.