Secretariat seeks Rs 2b to fund voluntary retirement

KATHMANDU, Jan 6: The secretariat under the Special Committee has sought nearly two billion rupees from the government to fund voluntary retirement of the Maoist combatants so it can start the process from Sunday -- the deadline for starting the process.



The secretariat, which has been mandated to implement the voluntary retirement program, on Thursday, sent a letter to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to make available Rs 1.93 billion to fund the voluntary retirement of nearly 7,500 combatants. [break]



According to Balananda Sharma, convener of the secretariat, a total of 1.90 billion rupees would be required to pay the Maoist combatants as voluntary retirement package and Rs 36.8 million as their travel allowance.



The secretariat will pay between Rs 0.5 million to Rs 0.8 million to each combatant, depending on their rank in the Maoist army as per the November 1 agreement among major political parties. In addition, the combatants will also be given travel allowance.



The combatants who hail from Tarai and easily accessible places will get Rs 2,000 while those from hill and mountain districts will get Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000 respectively, as travel allowance.



Confirming secretariat´s request, Peace and Reconstruction Minister Satya Pahadi told Republica that her ministry will forward the request to the Ministry of Finance on Friday. The finance ministry will have to receive a cabinet nod before releasing the money to the secretariat.



“My ministry is taking a proposal to the cabinet on Sunday,” said Finance Minister Barshaman Pun. Pun said that the ministry will send a proposal to the cabinet to provide tax exemption to the combatants on the money.


Secretariat teams leaving on Sunday



Sharma said the seven teams from the secretariat will start moving to the cantonments on Sunday to start the voluntary retirement process if the government makes available the funds required.



“We have completed recruiting necessary human resources. If the government makes the money available to the secretariat on Friday, the secretariat is prepared to send its teams to the cantonments on Sunday,” said Sharma.



Sharma said the secretariat will send 91 staff in teams to the main cantonments for voluntary retirement process. The teams will move from one cantonment to another once they complete their assignment in one cantonment.

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