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Military Reform – 2011

On 22 January 2011, the Maoist’s PLA came formally under the Special Committee for Army Integration. Prior to this, the PLA were under the UNMIN’s Supervision.¹ This was an important step in the progress of integration; however, the issues surrounding the integration modality and rehabilitation of ex-combatants remained unsettled. As of September, the Maoists wanted to integrate as many as 8,000 ex-combatants. Yet the other parties (more specifically the NC and CPN-UML) in the Special Committee only wanted to integrate up to 7,000 combatants.² Also, there has been some progress to the options of rehabilitation or voluntary retirement package. The voluntary retirement package bestows a lump sum of NRs 450,000 on the retiree.³ The NA also proposed to create a separate but mixed force consisting of qualified ex-combatants and personnel from the existing security sector. Furthermore, it proposed a separate directorate for the new force that will remain under the control of the Nepalese Army. The NA made this proposal in May 2011. For the most part it has gained support from all the stakeholders, yet the modalities of the integration, the system of ranking, and the rehabilitation packages, are still to be determined.

1. “NEPAL: Maoist Combatants Come Under the Control of Government: Update No. 243,” South Asia Analysis Group, January 26, 2011.
2. “PLA integration: Parties keen, complexities remain,” Kathmandu Post, June 5, 2011.
3. “Golden Handshake for PLA combatants: Panel plans Rs 450,000 for fighters,” Kathmandu Post, June 10, 2011.