Secretariat´s convener Balananda Sharma informed the major parties that it could not send teams to start the process of voluntary retirement after the Maoist representatives on the secretariat told him the Maoist party´s military department was not ready for voluntary retirement. [break]
"The Maoist representatives informed the secretariat that their military department wants more time and is not ready for the voluntary retirement," said a source at the secretariat.
It is not clear when the process will begin again as parties continue to have differences over issues related to constitution writing and peace process.
"We are ready to go to the cantonments for implementing the voluntary retirement process if the parties settle their outstanding issues," said Sharma.
Special Committee asks govt to prepare for integration
The Special Committee on Sunday directed the government in writing to start making arrangements for the integration of Maoist combatants.
"The Special Committee has written to the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to make the preparations for integration," said a source at the Prime Minister´s office on Sunday.
"The prime minister´s office will now write to the Defense Ministry." Though upto 6,500 combatants are to be integrated into the Nepal Army, the national army is yet to officially begin the preparations for integration. The national army is awaiting a formal communication from the government in this regard.
Only 17,076 combatants categorized
It is official that altogether 17,076 combatants showed up during the categorization process in November 2011.
The number is 2,526 less than the total number of Maoist combatants verified by the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) in 2007.[break]
In a report to the parliament´s Public Accounts Committee, the secretariat for the Special Committee for Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of Maoist Combatants said 2,432 combatants did not turn up during the categorization process while 94 combatants were reported dead at different dates.
According to the report, 7,365 combatants have chosen voluntary retirement while 9,705 have opted for integration. Only six combatants have preferred rehabilitation package.
The report said that altogether 1,034 women combatants have opted for integration while 2,525 female fighters have chosen voluntary retirement.
Convener of the secretariat Balananda Sharma presented the report to the parliamentary committee that has been concerned with misuse of allowance released for the Maoist combatants.
The issue of allowance misuse came to the fore as the government had been releasing allowances even to those combatants who did not show up during the categorization process.
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