Nepal Police to purchase vehicles as elections near

Published On: September 1, 2022 12:30 PM NPT By: Smriti Dhungana | @aesmriti

KATHMANDU, Sept 1: Nepal Police is set to purchase 180 vehicles for security purposes for the Federal Parliament and Provincial Assembly elections scheduled for November 20. Citing the lack of time, it is going to buy vehicles through a ‘fast track’ process without calling for tenders.

Nepal Police spokesperson DIG Tek Prasad Rai said that the process has been started after the Ministry of Finance approved the purchase of 180 vehicles. "The process has been moved forward with the approval of the Ministry of Finance to purchase 180 vehicles to provide security during the upcoming elections," said Rai. The Ministry of Finance has instructed that the price of each vehicle should not exceed 5 million rupees.

According to spokesperson Rai, Nepal Police will rent 1,050 vehicles for security purposes in the elections. "Nepal Police needs 1,300 vehicles," he said.

Similarly, the Ministry of Finance has approved Nepal Police to recruit 115,000 temporary police for the security arrangements for the upcoming elections. The finance ministry has ensured a budget of about Rs six billion for the recruitment of temporary police personnel. "The procedure is being prepared after the Ministry of Finance approved the recruitment of 115,000 temporary police personnel for the security arrangements in the upcoming elections," Rai said, "The recruitment process will be started as soon as the procedure is prepared." The temporary police will be recruited for 40 days.

According to Spokesperson Rai, for working for 40 days, each temporary police recruit will receive 41,960 rupees including salary and ration allowance. They will get an allowance of 1,000 rupees for traveling to the constituency.

He said that it has been decided to provide 6,000 rupees for the purchase of uniform to temporary police recruits, 300 rupees for lunch expenses and 1,000 rupees for the purchase of sweaters for the police stationed in the Himalayan areas. Earlier, 100,000 temporary police personnel were recruited for the local level elections.

As many as 72,000 Nepal Police personnel, 30,000 Armed Police Force personnel, 70,000 Nepali Army soldiers and 115,000 temporary police recruits will be mobilized to provide security during the upcoming elections.