The government has decided to waive loan amounts up to Rs. 400,000 to the victims of conflicts, Kantipur daily reported.

Waivers will be provided to the families of those killed or disappeared during the decade long armed-conflict, the people’s movement 2006 and the Madhesh movement and cooperatives affected by the conflict.

According to the loan waiver manual launched a month ago, the cooperatives which took loan from Small Farmers Development Bank and lost documents or property due to fire, vandalism and loots will get the waiver.

The decision will cost an extra Rs. 2 billion to the government coffer. The number of affected cooperatives is estimated at 1000. Likewise, more than 7000 people have been declared martyrs by the government.

Only those who apply before mid May will get the waiver, according the finance ministry.

Earlier, the government had announced to totally waive loans up to 30,000 and waive the interest on loans of up to 100,000 through its budget speech in September, last year. nepalnews.com Apr 12 09