Kathmandu May 13-

The Kirtipur Municipality has formed rapid action group so that nobody living in the municipality will have to face hunger due to the ongoing lockdown. The group will manage food for the needy daily wagers, economically vulnerable citizens and households and the poor citizens who have come from districts outside Kathmandu, who have been hardest hit by the lockdown.

Municipality deputy mayor Saraswoti Rijal said the municipality has arranged for home delivery of food by contacting the people from the afore-mentioned groups facing hardship. “We have managed food grain and foodstuff to the needy by forming a rapid action group. We have been delivering food to the home of consumers who call us saying they do not have food,” deputy mayor Rijal, who is also the spokesperson for the municipality, said.

According to her, the municipality has already distributed the first and second phase relief goods to the needy people before starting home-delivery of food. Rijal, who is also the coordinator of the rapid action group, said they distributed relief package to 4,100 needy households in the first phase and to 3,575 households in the second phase. Rs 200 thousand assistance Meanwhile, a group of Nepalis living in the USA has provided Rs 200 thousand to the COVID-19 Prevention and Relief Emergency Fund set up by the municipality.

Thirty seven people living in various US cities contributed Rs 268,000 to the Fund. Similarly, various organisations and individuals have deposited Rs 2.5 million in the Emergency Fund as of Tuesday. The municipality has itself deposited Rs 15 million in the Fund. The municipality has also announced subsidy to the farmers in the municipality for attaining self-sufficiency in agriculture. In this connection, the municipality has prepared to provide 1,450 sacks of chemical fertilizer, three varieties of rice seed and vegetable seeds and seedlings to the farmers at 50 per cent subsidised rate.