Kathmandu, June 19
The main opposition Nepali Congress on Sunday urged the KP Sharma Oli-led ruling coalition to explain why earthquake victims are not getting house construction grant. It has accused the government of changing the list of the victims.
The party has drawn the attention of Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti to issue a ruling to the government on the issue.
At Sunday’s meeting of the Parliament, NC lawmaker Kamala Panta said it was objectionable on the part of the government to not respond, though they have repeatedly asked it as to why quake victims are not getting the housing grant.
Even 14 months after last year’s quakes, victims have no option but to live in temporary shelters as they have not received grant for construction of houses, she said. This shows the government is insensitive towards the victims’ plight, Panta said, asking Speaker Gharti to issue a ruling against the government to draw its attention towards the matter.
Lawmaker Panta accused the government of doing politics by changing the list of quake victims by mobilising cadres of the ruling CPN-UML instead of distributing the grant fast.
Congress lawmakers, including Rameshwor Prasad Dhungel and Ram Chandra Pokharel, also blamed the government for not bothering to take measures to shift quake victims to permanent houses from temporary shelters.
On the occasion, Ram Narayan Bidari, lawmaker from the ruling CPN-Maoist Centre, also accused the government of not taking relief distribution for quake victims seriously.
Bidari said holding elections will be difficult ‘without managing conflict-era cases’. He demanded allocation of adequate resources to Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Inquiry Commission on Disappearances for early settlement of conflcit-era cases.
