E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, DEC 18 -

The Special Commi-ttee Secretariat has failed to make a recommendation on the operational plan for implementing the army integration process within the deadline set by the prime minister-led committee.

The Special Commi-ttee on December 11  asked the experts’ panel to recommend the operational plan for implementing both army integration and voluntary retirement processes within five days. The panel was able to provide suggestions only on the action plan to implement voluntary retirement process during Friday’s meeting of the Special Committee.

The government’s delay in setting up the non-combat directorate for the integrating of former fighters into the national army and delivering formal instructions to the Nepal Army (NA) to start preparations is the major cause of the stalemate in the preparation of the operational plan. The NA has been saying that it will start preparations once the government’s decision is conveyed to it officially through the Defence Ministry.

“The secretariat tried to seek NA’s opinion with regard to the operational plan on integration. But they conveyed that they could provide only informal suggestions until they received instructions from the government,” said Secretariat member Sanandan Prasad Kurmi. He said parties should agree on the method of selecting a maximum of 6,500 combatants from the 9,708 who opted for integration during the regrouping process.

Talking to reporters after Friday’s Special Committee meeting, Minister for Finance Barsha Man Pun said the prime minister had instructed the Chief of Army Staff to start preparations for the integration process. “The prime minister has recently asked the army chief to arrange for logistics and training venues for the combatants’ integration to the NA,” Pun said.

A team led by Director General of Military Operations Maj Gen Daman Ghale has stepped up informal homework on structure, strength and deployment areas, among others, for the proposed directorate.

In its report presented to the Special Committee on Friday, the Secretariat suggested fighters opting for integration be moved to main and satellite cantonments located close to highways once farewell ceremonies for retirement takers were carried out. It also suggested using the NA battalion as the “integration centre” for screening and selecting eligible combatants.

Posted on: 2011-12-18 09:12

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