PLA commanders asked Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to push for cash relief for the rehabilitation of the disqualified PLA personnel during the ongoing PLA general staff meeting that began in Kathmandu on Friday.
"The government can immediately begin the discharge process if the combatants are given cash in bulk for their rehabilitation into the society. We will fully cooperate with the government," said Maoist deputy commander Baldev, one of the PLA commanders to participate in the meeting. The meeting on Sunday also appointed Baldev as the PLA spokesperson.
There are 4,008 combatants disqualified by the United Nations Mission (UNMIN) during the verification process. They are still languishing in the UNMIN-monitored seven cantonments and 21 satellite camps.
He said the disqualified combatants are not ready to leave the camps without proper rehabilitation package that ensure their normal lives when they are back into the society. But he said the PLA commanders, on their part, are ready to cooperate with the government.
On July 17, a government team had reached the Pariwartan Smriti Brigade in Chitwan to get the views of the disqualified PLA combatants 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, the PLA commanders also expressed concern over the integration and rehabilitation of the PLA commanders in light of the contradicting views from other political parties.
They also told the party chairman about the confusion surrounding the reporting of the PLA activities as the PLA had come under the Special Committee´s purview on the supervision, integration and rehabilitation. The PLA commanders have been reporting the PLA activities to the party chairman till date. Now they will have to report the PLA activities to the Special committee. Besides, the commanders also raised the issue of infrastructure at the cantonments and the transfer of PLA units.
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