Reconstruction drive in Nepal’s Gorkha district transforms lives of rural women

Jan 08, 2022

Gorkha (Nepal), Jan 09 (ANI): Barpak in Gorkha district was the epicenter of 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless with entire villages flattened across many districts of the Himalayan nation. To lend a helping hand to its neighbour, India decided to construct houses in Gorkha district with the support of United Nations Development Programme. It not only provided new houses to the locals but created jobs for many, including the women. Madhu Maya Sunar is one of the certified trained masons. Being one of the trained female masons, Madhu actively took part in the reconstruction of her neighbor’s house, a few steps away from hers. The reconstruction drive, which went on from March 2018 to December 2021 in Gorkha, was able to produce over 6,842 masons out of which 424 were women who played a pivotal role in the construction process locally. The Government of India supported construction of 50,000 houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts of Nepal. The Indian Government had committed 1 Billion USD for reconstruction of Nepal in the form of grant and Line of Credit. 150 million USD was allocated for reconstruction in the housing sector, 100 USD million as grant and 50 million USD to be drawn from Line of Credit.