MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FALLS TO 13 DEGREES CELSIUS IN CAPITAL CREATING WINTRY CONDITIONS

MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FALLS TO 13 DEGREES CELSIUS

Kathmandu, 4 Nov.: Minimum temperature in the capital fell to
13 degrees Celsius creating wintry conditions Friday morning in the beginning of November.
The sky over the capital was cloud for the third consecutive day with the fall
Maximum temperature is expected to rise to 23 degreesCelsius in the afternoon.
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KAMAL THAPA IN FINALS OF PATTBA TENNIS TOURNAMENT

Kathmandu, 4 Nov.: Kamal Thapa plays Germany’s John
Burness in the final of the Asian Senior Open 2011 Tennis Tournament 55 years age category in Pattaya, Thailand, Friday.
Thapa, Chairman of RPP-Nepal and a former national football
player, beat second seed Japan’s Arai Yukata in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to qualify for the final.
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DONORS UNLIKELY TO PROVIDE CASH FOR INTEGRATION

Kathmandu, 4 Nov.: Though the government is preparing to seek donors´ assistance for the rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, it is unlikely to garner their support for doling out cash as rehabilitation package, Kiran Chapagain writes in Republica..

“The donors have informally told us that they are not enthusiastic about providing assistance for doling out cash as rehabilitation package,” said a source at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction.

But the official said the donors, who have been supporting the peace process for the last five years, are keen on financing rehabilitation package that involves education, training and professional opportunities if the government so requests.

“While the UK is unable to fund cash payments for voluntary retirement, we are open to working with the government on the rehabilitation packages focused on training, education and skills,” a spokesperson at the British Embassy told Republica.

The donors, according to government officials at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, have maintained that cash payments are ineffective as rehabilitation packages. In addition, they have also urged the governments in informal meetings to ensure that systems for cash payouts are accountable, efficient and transparent.

Officials at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction held a meeting with Swiss Ambassador Thomas Gass, who is the coordinator of Nepal´s donors, recently on possible funding for the rehabilitation packages. The ambassador conveyed to the ministry officials that the donors are not keen on financing rehabilitation packages involving cash.

Despite this, Finance Minister Barshaman Pun, who also holds the portfolio of the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, is scheduled to meet the Swiss Ambassador, who is from Sri Lanka on Friday, to discuss funding for the rehabilitation packages. Officials said the government will then write to the donors requesting support for the rehabilitation schemes.

Similarly, Nepal´s donors are also making preparations to discuss possible funding early next week, according to a source at an embassy of an Asian country based in Kathmandu. Donors say they are looking forward to a formal request for support.

“We look forward to receiving the government´s full proposal for donor support,” said the British Embassy spokesperson.

According to an estimation of the leaders involved in the negotiations of the recently-signed peace agreement, around 5.15 billion rupees would be required to fund the rehabilitation packages. This amount excludes the fund required for the training of 6,500 combatants after their integration into the Nepal Army.

The leaders have estimated that around 10,000 combatants will have to be rehabilitated if all quotas reserved for integration are filled completely. As per their estimation, around three thousand Maoist combatants have left the cantonments, brining down the Maoist army´s population to 16,000. The United Nations had verified 19,605 Maoist combatants. As of Wednesday, the government record shows that altogether 19,525 combatants have been receiving allowances from the state treasury.

The November-1 agreement has proposed two types of rehabilitation packages -- the first scheme involves vocational training, education and professional opportunities while the second proposes doling out cash to the combatants opting for voluntary
retirement.
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PLA DIVISION COMMANDERS TO OPT OUT OF INTEGRATION

Kathmandu, 4 Nov.: Top echelons of the Maoist People´s Liberation Army (PLA) will not join the Nepal Army (NA), but are likely to get some ´political appointments´ instead. Kiran Pun reports in Republica.

Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal told PLA division commanders during a meeting at his residence Thursday morning that PLA commanders including division commanders and above should opt out of integration.

"The chairman just asked us to make arrangements for integration of division vice-commanders and below them in the PLA hierarchy," said a commander who did not want to be named.

But the Maoist chairman shied away from disclosing the nitty-gritty of the integration process.

"He was in a hurry and did not want to tell us in detail about the process. But we insisted that he inform us about the details of the process before we go to the cantonments and make arrangements for integration," said the commander.

When the commanders pressed him to explain the process, Dahal said the agreed number of 6,500 to be integrated under the NA directorate would comprise PLA ranks of division vice-commander and below.

Dahal also told them that there would be some political appointments for division commanders or deputy commanders, but he did not categorically say what "political appointments" meant and how many such appointments would be made.

But the commander said that political appointments mean placements in the directorate, which could be at some rank higher than colonel, but who would only be ceremonial or take their retirement after a fix period and without promotions.

The PLA has seven division commanders and four deputy commanders. There are also 16 division vice-commanders and these could be the highest ranks from the PLA to join the force being set up for guarding forests, operating relief-and-rescue operations and providing industrial security.

The seven-point deal is vague at best when it comes to the nitty-gritty of integration, though there might have been some tacit understanding between the signatories of the deal.

So, PLA commanders want clarity on some key points of the integration process.

First, they want to know how years of service by combatants would be counted. The deal is silent on whether years of service by the combatants would be counted since the time they joined the PLA or after they join the NA.

Second, the deal states that the combatants would be formally placed in NA ranks only after completing a bridge course and training. But the commanders don´t how long or how rigorous the training would be. "It would be unfortunate if the combatants have to quit the directorate after learning that the reality runs against their expectations. Then we will neither get placement in the directorate nor get a rehabilitation package," said a commander

Thirdly, it is still unclear whether the education level to be counted would be what they had when they first joined the PLA or what they currently have. Though the deal states that the education level of combatants would be counted one step higher than what they do have, the commanders first want to be clear about the cut-off point.

The deal states that those opting for voluntary retirement would get Rs 0.5 million to Rs 0.8 million, but the deal is silent on who gets Rs 0.7 million and Rs 0.6 million. Similarly, the deal states that those opting for rehabilitation would get Rs 0.6 million to 0.9 million, but is silent who gets what amount.

"How can we pick one of the options given in the deal as we don´t know the details," said a combatant from the second division.

Surveyors also demand clarity

Balananda Sharma, convenor of the secretariat under the Special Committee, said on Thursday that the seven-point agreement needs to be further clarified before surveyors are dispatched to the cantonments for categorization of combatants.

The secretariat plans to send 210 surveyors in seven groups to the seven main cantonments, latest by next Friday.

"There is some confusion in the agreement, such as who will get how much under the rehabilitation packages, integration numbers and the ranks that the inegrated combatants will get," said Sharma.

Sharma said he hoped the Special Committee would make all these confusing provisions clear before the surveyors are dispatched.

Though the agreement says that up to 6,500 combatants will be integrated into the army, it is not clear what happens if a lesser number of combatants choose to be integrated. Similarly, the agreement has specified the total purse the package will amount to but does not specify how much a combatant of a specific rank will get if s/he opts for a rehabilitation package in cash or in kind.

Sharma said that clarity is needed as the surveyors are supposed to be in a position to answer each and every question of the combatants on integration and rehabilitation when they go to the field to enable combatants to make informed decisions on their future.

IN SURKHET, PLA COMMANDERS SLAM 7-POINT DEAL
The dispute within the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) regarding integration of combatants has forced its way into the cantonments, with Vice-commander of the Sixth Division of the People´s Liberation Army (PLA) Durga Bahadur Chaudhary organizing a press conference in Birendranagar Thursday to slam the party´s agreement with other political parties, Khlendra Sejuwal reports from Surkhet.

Chaudhary accused Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, also a party vice-chairman, of dissolving the PLA to fulfil their personal ambitions.

At the press conference also attended by Constituent Assembly (CA) member Mangal BK, who is close to Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya, and other district level leaders, Chaudhary said, “This cannot be termed army integration; we have been forced into surrender.” He further argued,“It is not wise of some comrades to welcome the agreement without proper study”.

Chaudhary claimed that the agreement was not drafted by the political parties but by Nepal Army (NA) Headquarters or by some invisible force. “How can chairman and Baburam comrades, who were piggybacked to power by the PLA, go ahead with an agreement that forces the PLA to surrender?” he fumed. “We infer that they have signed it under the pressure of some force,” he also stated.

He warned of another rebellion if the PLA is dissolved in a humiliating fashion through implementation of the agreement and called for its revocation. Vice-commander of Jharana-Smriti Brigade under the Sixth Division, Thammar Bista, said the combatants would not comply with the ´unilateral´ agreement.

The Baidya camp also organized demonstrations in Dhangadi and burnt the seven-point agreement, according to our correspondent Dil Bahadur Chhatyal. Irate cadres resorted to incendiary slogans, calling Dahal and Bhattarai Indian agents. The leaders of the demonstrations were forced to later clarify to media that slogans were not chanted against the party leadership.

Addressing a corner meeting after the rally, CA Member Bir Man Chaudhary claimed that the agreement insulted the martyrs, the PLA and the disappeared. “The agreement has put prices on the combatants who fought for the country and people, as if they were cattle,” he fumed. The leaders insisted that they would not return captured property at any cost.
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