Special Committee members from the Nepali Congress (NC) Minendra Rijal said his party will raise all the disputed issues, including the salaries of the absent combatants being received by the UCPN (Maoist), during the meeting of the Special Committee slated for Sunday. [break]
“Besides, we will push for an immediate settlement for those opting for voluntary retirement, and raise the issue of delay in the process,” he added.
As per the seven-point peace deal, the process of categorizing the combatants was to begin on November 17 and end within a week. But the process began on November 20 and completed last Thursday. The peace deal doesn´t state clearly how the second phase of integration would begin and end.
The Maoist commanders, on the other hand, have stated the process will not move ahead without the government addressing their concerns.
First the commanders say the government must address the livelihood issue of over 4,000 combatants disqualified by the UNMIN. “They were evicted from the cantonments empty handed. The government should now address their concerns. Otherwise, dissatisfaction among the disqualified may lead to dire consequences,” said Suk Bahadur Roka Magar, chief of the PLA Second Division.
Second, the commanders have stated that the number of those opting for integration far exceed 6,500 -- the number agreed upon.
“They asked us to cooperate with the government to make our colleagues fill in the categorization forms, and a majority of them opted for integration. Now the parties should settle the issue,” said Yam Bahadur Adhikari, chief of the PLA First Division. The total number of those opting for integration is over 9,000.
Thirdly, the commanders have stated the government and the parties should clarify the issues of age, education, and rank of the combatants opting for integration.
There are discrepancies between the age recorded during the verification process by the UNMIN and the age recorded in their citizenship certificate. Similarly, the combatants are confused about how their education level will be evaluated.
The seven-point deal states that the education level they had at the time of joining the PLA would be taken into account, but the combatants have registered their current education level. Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had told them that the education level they currently have would be taken into account during the integration process.
Likewise, there are also problems on the rank of the combatants. The seven-point deal doesn´t state clearly how the commanders would be integrated at the higher levels of the Nepal Army (NA) hierarchy. Dahal has only told them that there is a “gentlemen´s agreement about some political appointments” in the NA directorate.
Likewise, many commanders have been promoted to higher levels in the PLA hierarchy since the UNMIN verification process.
This is a significant issue for the combatants as there an agreement among the parties that division commanders and vice-commanders opting for voluntary retirement will get Rs 800,000, brigade commander and brigade vice-commanders Rs 700,000, battalion commanders and company commanders Rs 600,000 and those below the rank Rs 500,000.
“We must settle the issues through talks. We should find a middle ground for solutions,” said Roka Magar.
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