Govt declares 1,626 more as martyrs

KATHMANDU, June 23: The government on Wednesday decided to grant the status of martyr to an additional 1,626 persons killed during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.



A cabinet meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister took a decision to this effect. [break]



Earlier, the Maoists-led government had declared some 7,000 people killed during the conflict as martyrs.



There were demands to declare those killed at the hands of Maoists as well, as the martyrs saying that the Maoist-led government declared only its cadres killed by state forces as martyrs.



Talking to media persons after the meeting, government spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel said the cabinet meeting also decided to expand the area of Bardiya National Park by 180 sq km.



The cabinet also brought an amendment to the working procedures on distribution of monetary incentive for marriage between dalits and non-dalits.



Wednesday´s cabinet also decided to transfer two government secretaries. While Dhruva Kumar Sharma has been transferred to Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction from Prime Minister´s Office, Kishore Thapa has been sent to Tourism Ministry from Water and Energy Commission Secretariat.

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