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Senior Citizens’ Age And Relief To Quake Victims
Senior Citizens’ Age And Relief To Quake Victims
KTM Metro Reporter
January 25, 2018
Kathmandu: At the Wednesday meeting of the cabinet on January 24, 2018, the Deuba government decided to add NPR 100,000 to the grant making the total grant amount of NPR 400,000 for the quake victims to build their houses.
Speaking to the anchor of the Radio Nepal morning program ‘antar-sambad’ on January 25, 2018, Minister of State for Finance Udaya Shumsher has said that the government has enough donors’ money for providing an additional grant to the quake victims for building their houses, as a simple house in the rural areas costs at least NPR 500,000 following the rise in the prices of cement by 110 per bag of 50 kgs and the rods.
The price of cement has increased because of the loading problem of clinker imported from India, as the locals in Birgunj have been opposing the unloading of clinker because of the dust pollution it causes; so, the government is looking for a space away from the residential areas to dump the clinker, said Minister of State Udaya Shumsher.
Nepal has so much of the cement grade limestone but clinker has been imported from India indicating producing clinker in Nepal is not price competitive. The government has been propagating that it has been for attracting the foreign investment in industries, hydropower and so on; obviously, even the national investment has been failed to attract in the cement industries.
Another decision the Deuba government has made is to reduce the age of senior citizens from 70 to 65 years for being eligible for the senior citizen allowance. Concerning the issue Minister for State Udaya Shumsher has said that senior citizens have been so sick and weak they need early support; so, the government reduced the age limit for senior citizen allowance.
However, Deuba has failed in increasing the allowance amount from NPR 2,000 to at least NPR 5,000 senior citizens have been demanding for the last five years, as NPR 2,000 per month hardly buy a meal a day not to mention other expenses senior citizens need to cover.
The two decisions the Deuba government has made have been too little too late for the NC party to recover from the poll defeat.
CPN-UML has been up in arms about the decision the Deuba government has made. Chairman of CPN-UML KP Oli is holding a press conference at 4:00 pm on January 25, 2018 to make its views public.
