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The secretariat finalized the cost and submitted it to the Special Committee recently as it finalized the number of the combatants opting for voluntary retirement, according to Balananda Sharma, convener of the secretariat. [break]
According to the recently held categorization of Maoist combatants, altogether 7,268 combatants have opted for voluntary retirement but this number will go up once the integration process completes. Those who will disqualify in the integration will also be allowed to choose between voluntary retirement and rehabilitation packages.
As per the agreement among the parties, these combatants will be given between Rs 0.5 million to Rs 0.8 million, depending on their ranks in the Maoist army. A recent meeting of the Special Committee has decided that the money will be paid through account payee checks in two installments.
As the money required to finance the voluntary retirement has been calculated, the government has started exploring possible resources to collect the required fund and has started discussions at the political and bureaucratic levels simultaneously.
According to an official at the Ministry of Finance, the government has three options to choose to finance voluntary retirement. First, the government has the option of mobilizing additional domestic borrowing by increasing the borrowing limit set in the budget.
Similarly, another option is to request donors to support voluntary retirement. Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has approached donors in a bid to collect necessary fund to finance the voluntary retirement package. But the donors are reluctant to fund any package that involves cash doleouts.
The third option, according to the officials, is increasing government revenue. But they said that this possibility is very slim.
"We are holding discussions on how to manage the fund to finance the voluntary retirement of the Maoist combatants," said a official at the Ministry of Finance.
In the meantime, Denmark has disbursed 174 million rupees to the government as a further contribution to the Nepal Peace Trust Fund, continuing its support to the Nepal´s ongoing peace process. With the latest contribution, the Danish government has supported 464 million rupees to the government-managed Nepal Peace Trust Fund, to enable the government to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
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