As per the government data, nearly 13,000 people were killed during the insurgency that lasted for over a decade. The Maoist party had claimed that nearly 6,000 of those killed were its cadres and supporters. [break]
"Those killed -- both by Maoist and state security personnel -- during the insurgency would be declared as martyrs," said Law and Justice Minister Prem Bahadur Singh. "The Maoist-led government had declared only their cadres as martyrs. The government has now decided to declare even those non-Maoists killed in the insurgency as martyrs."
Earlier, the Maoist-led government had decided to declare 6,000 Maoist cadres killed in the insurgency as martyrs. The decision, however, is yet to be implemented.
Non-Maoist parties had been pressing the government to declare all non-Maoists killed during armed conflict as martyrs. They had also been complaining that the Maoist-led government had done injustice to other victims´ families by making such a unilateral decision.
"This is true that all non-Maoist parties had been pressing to declare all non-Maoists as martyrs," Minister Singh admitted, "The cabinet decided to address their demands too."
When asked whether all 13,000 people killed during insurgency period would be declared martyrs, Minister Singh said, "The committee formed to identify the martyrs and their category is expected to initially declare 2,000 as martyrs. But eventually all 13,000 would be declared as martyrs as per the cabinet decision."
According to Minister Singh, the families of those declared martyrs would get Rs 100,000. Previously, the families of those declared martyrs were entitled to Rs 1,000,000 in compensation.
Govt sets up passport office
Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting also decided to set up a ´Central Passport Office´ in Kathmandu. According to officials, all the tasks related to passports would now be conducted by the central office. Currently, MoFA has been distributing old passports.
Govt to keep record of its properties
The cabinet also decided to keep records of all government owned properties, including vehicles, across the country. According to a source at the PMO, the cabinet took a decision to this effect acting on complaints that government owned properties are being misused.
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