Kathmandu, Oct. 4 -- The government plans to amend the Building Act to guarantee access to safe housing, offering cash grants, free construction materials, concessional loans and technical assistance to low-income families.

A bill to amend the Building Act 1998 has been registered in the House of Representatives. It also introduces new requirements for building safety, structural assessments of older buildings and tighter penalties for violations of building codes.

Under Section 16, families classified as extremely poor and recommended by their local governments would be entitled to a cash grant of at least Rs50,000 from the federal government and Rs25,000 from provincial governments to build a home. The federal and provincial governmen...