"We need some time for the purchase of communications equipment including walkie-talkies and means of transport. So we requested the government through the Ministry of Defense to fast-track budget allocations," said Brigadier General Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, spokesperson of NA. [break]
A meeting of NA officials and ministry secretaries held on Wednesday decided to request the Ministry of Finance to find a way to allocate the budget within a week. According to a joint-secretary at the ministry, it is difficult to allocate the budget as per NA´s request, due to some legal and lengthy procedural hurdles.
"We are confident the government will think over the procedural delays and ease NA´s preparations for this election of such national import," Brigadier Pokharel said. Government officials have assured NA of finding some alternative ways, such as dealing directly with firms to purchase communications tools, generators and means of transport, he added.
NA has also drawn the attention of the government to the purchase of walkie-talkie sets similar to the version the army is currently using. At the same time it has proposed high frequency (HF) sets that can communicate both long range and over remote hill areas. If we buy different sets than the ones in use, there might be inter-connection problems, he said.
As the government plans the deployment of NA in the outer circles, with a contingent of 127 personnel in highly sensitive areas, 80-90 personnel in sensitive areas and a minimum of 40 in less sensitive areas, each contingent is to be linked by communications sets, according to NA.
Before NA personnel reach their stations, they need to be properly equipped with communications gear and means of transport, NA spokesperson Pokharel added. So there should not be any delay in the procurement of the essential logistics.
Most of the funds announced by the government for security will go for daily allowances for NA personnel to be deployed during the poll, with the remaining to be used for fuel and maintenance, air-patrolling, hiring of vehicles, stationary, accessories and others. But the army is not for hiring vehicles as ordinary vehicles are not suitable for military uses.
Of the total budget allocated for election security, NA had demanded over Rs 3.5 billion, and the government has assured it about Rs 3.2 billion. Over Rs 2 billion will be spent for communications and transportation, according to NA estimates.
NA has also proposed to the government to increase the budget, saying extra funding was needed for making aviation and other transport more operational and effective.
The army plans to operate some 12 aircraft, including helicopters, during the poll, the spokesman said, adding that they had begun maintenance on seven grounded aircraft. The tender and purchase procedures for spare parts are already underway with Rs 385 million allocated by the government. According to Defense Ministry sources there is a possibility of more support from the Indian government with transportation and communications.
About 65,000 NA personnel will be deployed for the CA poll from before one month of election day, with flag mark, show up force, booth observations and situation reviews, and LRP (long range patrol) around voting stations from before 15 days, in coordination with the local election security committees.
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