Kathmandu: The government has loosen purse strings for squatters by deciding to pay house rents to those who have registered themselves as the landless people. A meeting of the taskforce formed to evict the people residing on the encroached banks of rivers of the Valley with Home Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar on Saturday made the decision to this effect.

According to taskforce coordinator Mahesh Bahadur Basnet, out of 8,000 residing alongside river banks 1,082 will receive house rents for three months as a temporary measure to bail out the genuine squatters. The government is fixing the rent amount on Sunday. “This is just a temporary solution. The long term settlement arrangement will be made in accordance with the recommendations of National Squatter Commission,” said Basnet.

Source: The Kathmandu Post, January 29, 2012