PLA brass for better deal for disqualified

KATHMANDU, Sept 6: Commanders of the Maoists´ People´s Liberation Army (PLA) have demanded that their party ensure better rehabilitation packages for the disqualified PLA personnel before discharging them from the cantonments. The PLA commanders expressed such views at the ongoing PLA general staff meeting that began in Kathmandu on Friday. [break]



"The government should bring concrete packages for rehabilitation of the combatants before discharging them from the cantonments," said a PLA commander who participated in the meeting on Saturday.



According to him, the Ministry of Peace doesn´t have concrete packages that ensure the rehabilitation of the combatants back into the society. "What types of rehabilitation packages does the government plan to bring for them? The government should talk in concrete terms,” he said.



The PLA have been saying that the relief packages introduced by the government for the rehabilitation of the disqualified PLA are not attractive enough and don´t ensure their normal lives.



The government has introduced some six dozen relief packages for the rehabilitation of the disqualified PLA. About 4,008 combatants were disqualified by the United Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) during the verification process. They are still languishing in the UNMIN-monitored camps.



On July 17, a government team had reached the Pariwartan Smriti Brigade in Chitwan to get the views of the disqualified PLA on rehabilitation, but the PLA commanders told the team that the government should begin the discharge process only after introducing packages that ensure the rehabilitation of the combatants.



During the meeting on Saturday, the PLA had expressed doubts over the integration and rehabilitation of the PLA personnel in view of the contradicting views from "some political parties".



Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had ensured the commanders that a new power equation was being formed and everything would come back to track soon. "A new power equation would be formed soon; a new government either led or backed by our party will be formed soon," a Maoist source quoted Dahal as telling the commanders. He told the commanders that if such a government could not be formed, the party would launch a decisive "people´s movement" to bring things back on track. Dahal also told the commanders to be tolerant in view of the "provocative activities from others".



He had asked the commanders to be cooperative for the integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants. The meeting would continue on Monday as well.



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