E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, DEC 18 - The Special Committee 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 Committee on December 11 had asked the expert 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 action plan to implement voluntary retirement process during Friday's meeting of the Special Committee.

The government's delay in endorsing the non-combat directorate to integrate the former fighters in the national army and deliver formal instructions to the Nepal Army (NA) to start necessary preparations is the major reason behind stalemate in 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 opinion of the Nepal Army in regard to the operational plan on integration. But they conveyed that they could only provide informal suggestions until they receive instructions from the government,” said Secretariat member Sanandan Prasad Kurmi. He said parties should agree on the method of selecting maximum 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 undertaking the army integration process. “The prime minister has recently asked army chief to arrange logistics and training places for the combatants to be integrated in the Nepal Army,” Pun had said.

NA sources maintain that they have not received any official instructions from the government so far. 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 had suggested that the combatants opting for integration be relocated in the main and satellite cantonments located close to highways once farewell ceremonies for those choosing voluntary retirement were carried out. It also suggested using Nepal Army's battalion as the “integration centre” for conducting the screening and selecting those combatants who meet the standard norms.

Currently, the NA has its recruitment centres at its six divisions located in each development region. The Army is learnt to have informally suggested that the parties refer the combatants to its recruitment units for the selection test.

Maoist representatives in the Special Committee Secretariat have expressed reservations on the terminology 'recruitment' and had pressured the non-Maoist members to use the term “integration centres” for the units that will carry out screening of the combatants. Senior brass of the Nepal Army and the Maoist combatants are divided on the methods of selection and the training to be imparted to the combatants opting for integration.

PLA commanders have been calling for consensus on the senior most rank to be provided to the combatants during the integration process. They have said that some combatants opting for integration during the regrouping would switch to voluntary retirement once the row over rank is settled.

Posted on: 2011-12-18 03:00

Post Your Comment

Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory.
* Full Name
* Address
* Email Address
* Comment
* Captcha	Get another CAPTCHA code
Note:	Comments containing abusive words or slander shall not be published.