According to Dr Dipak Prakash Bhatt, a secretariat member, the secretariat on Monday unanimously endorsed the plan of action, excluding a proposal on setting up a situation center, and forwarded it to NPTF, a government-managed multi-donor fund. [break]
The situation center is a mechanism conceived to serve as a focal point to which arms and army monitors deputed at the cantonments are supposed to report.
Though prepared some months ago, the plan had been in limbo after Maoist representatives at the secretariat said they needed a directive from their leadership for its endorsement. NPTF is also unable to release the budget it is supposed to provide to the secretariat, for lack of a consensus plan of action. As a result, the secretariat is without a budget even to pay salaries to the arms and army monitors deployed at the cantonments and to cover day-to-day expenses for monitoring work.
With the latest development, the secretariat will have a staff of 23, including a joint-secretary and two under-secretaries, and will set up a fully functioning office.
The plan could not be endorsed in its totality as the Maoist representatives continued to have reservations on establishing a situation center that will remain open round the clock to receive reports from the cantonments.
"We maintain that a decision on the kind of mechanism for reporting should be taken before setting up a situation center," said Chandra Prakash Khanal, a Maoist representative on the secretariat.
The Maoists have also floated an alternative to the situation center. "We are discussing personal assistants for secretariat members and they will also work as a focal point for reporting. The situation center may not be needed," said Khanal
PLA not getting salary
The Cantonment Management Office has not been able to pay the salary of most PLA members due to lack of an independent observer to monitor salary distribution, following the departure of UNMIN on January 15.
"The existing guidelines on distribution of salaries to the PLA require us to pay salary to the PLA in the presence of an independent observer. Before its withdrawal, UNMIN used to play that role. A ministerial decision is needed to designate another observer but we do not yet have a minister at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction," said an official at the Cantonment Management Office.
Government officials have already reported this problem to Maoist representatives at the secretariat of the Special Committee, a government-formed body in command of the PLA.
"The PLA in some cantonments have not been paid their salaries for the past two months while the entire PLA has been without salary for the month of Magh," said Khanal.
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