More than 300,000 quake-affected families have been approved as eligible for receiving the second tranche of government grant for rebuilding earthquake damaged private homes.

According to the Central Level Project Implementation Unit under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), a total of 304,805 families have been approved for the second instalment of grant by Monday. 

The government has been providing Rs150,000 in second instalment to the quake-affected families for rebuilding their houses.

Likewise, more than 315,000 have applied for the second tranche of financial assistance for rebuilding private homes and the number is continuously on the rise, Chief Executive of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Yubaraj Bhusal.

The second tranche of the grant is distributed to the eligible households once the NRA engineers confirm that the rebuilding of houses meet the standards set by the authority. With over 51,000, Sindhupalchok tops the list for the number of beneficiaries qualified for the second instalment among the 14 districts hit hardest by the 2015 earthquake. The number of families receiving the second tranche of aid is also picking up in other districts, with 41,794 in Nuwakot, Gorkha (36,865), Dolakha (34,028), Dhading (31,937) and Kavrepalanchok (23,945).

“It is encouraging to note that more families are rebuilding their houses with the government assistance. The number of families applying for the final instalment is also  increasing. This indicates houses are rapidly built in those districts,” said CEO Bhusal, adding the reconstruction efforts were on time. 

A total of 259,282 beneficiaries families have already received the second tranche whereas 60,000 others out of the total 77,951 approved got the final instalment of Rs100,000.

The NRA has said that it would complete building 400,000 private houses within this fiscal year. While 110,576 private houses have been completed, more than 358,000 are under construction. “At this pace, we will easily meet our target within this fiscal year,” added CEO Bhusal.