The government has decided to issue a public notice inviting the families who have received the first tranche of the private housing aid to apply for the second instalment by March 30.

The decision was taken by the executive committee of the National Reconstruction Authority on Tuesday.

The NRA has started distribution of the second instalment of the private housing aid to the earthquake-affected families. The distribution of the second tranche of grants started in three districts—Gorkha, Sindhuli and Nuwakot—on January 18. As of Monday, 798 of the total households that received the Rs50,000 cash have got the second tranche of grants.

The government estimates that around Rs38 billion will be required to release the funds in the second phase. In the second go, each earthquake-displaced household will get Rs150,000 for rebuilding.

Of the 552,818 households listed as recipients of the housing grants in the 14 most affected districts, the NRA has signed tripartite agreements with 535,316 families.

The NRA has already decided to make lump sum payments of Rs300,000 to the families that have completed reconstruction of their homes in compliance with the set guidelines.

According to NRA Spokesperson Yam Lal Bhusal, the meeting also decided to prioritise aid for disabled, elderly citizens, children and under-privileged families in the quake-hit districts and approved the request of five non-governmental organisations to work in reconstruction.

The meeting also decided to appoint artist couple—Sitaram Kattel (Dhurmus) and Kunjana Ghimire (Suntali)—as goodwill ambassadors for an integrated housing settlement development programme.