Around 13,000 quake victims in the Gorkha district, who are severely affected by the cold weather, remain deprived of the government handouts of Rs 10,000 per household for purchasing warm winter clothing. Although the winter is half over, government authorities have not distributed the funds for warm clothing to 12,700 quake victims in the district who have already been given red cards for the purpose. In lack of warm clothing, quake survivors living under temporary shelters are struggling against the extreme cold. Those still deprived of the warm clothing funds include 6,600 in Gorkha Municipality and 300 in Palungtar Municipality. “Those living in municipalities are well off is the reason given for depriving us of the government funds,” Ishwar Pariyar, a quake victim in Gorkha Municipality, told Republica. Pointing to some nearby temporary shelters, Pariyar said they have already been reduced to a hand-to-mouth existence and wondered when the government would cough up the money so that we can protect themselves from the biting cold.

Sanju Pariyar, another quake victim, said his family had received Rs 15,000 for constructing a temporary shelter but they were still waiting for the winter relief of Rs 10,000. All five members of the family are now squeezed into their single-room temporary shelter. Given the delays, the quake-affected locals in the two municipalities have mostly lost hope of ever receiving the warm clothing funds. The quake-affected locals visit the Palungtar Municipality office on a daily basis to make inquiries about the funds, Ramchandra Marahatta, a staffer at the office, informed. “Some of them have even threatened to padlock the office,” he said. According to Prakash Dhakal, an engineer at the municipality, the district administration has not transferred the required funds to the municipality yet. Consequently, the municipality has not been able to distribute the money to the intended recipients.

Meanwhile, the Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) Gorkha informed that the government has distributed the funds to quake victims from 60 VDCs. Chief District Officer (CDO) Baldev Gautam, who is also the chairperson of the DDRC, said that Rs 120 million is required for the quake-affected in the two municipalities. However, the Home Ministry has not been able to send that amount to the DDRC. “The funds received earlier were distributed to the quake victims in the villages. We'll distribute the additional funds immediately after we receive them,” CDO Gautam said. According to him, hundreds of applications from quake victims who have not received the funds have piled up at the district administration office.