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Refuting Media Report On Army Integration
By KTM Metro Reporter
February 19, 2012: the Nepal Army (NA) has in its 8-point public statement refuted the Nepalese media report on the integration of the Maoists’ combatants into the NA stating the number of officer positions ranging from Brigadier General to Major reported in the media as allocated for the Maoist combatants is not true; it also has stated the NA has briefed the current Prime Minister about its concept of integration prepared and submitted to the government of former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal; ‘The Rising Nepal’ of today writes.
It has stated that the combatants going through the tests following the standards and criteria would receive the positions of up to the level of Major. The media statement that the NA has offered the position of Brigadier General to the combatants is not true, as the NA has not made any mention of such a position in its plan on the integration of the Maoists’ combatants.
The NA in its statement also has made it clear that the new directorate of the combatants to be set up is not an independent entity but it will be under the NA following the past agreements.
At the time of presenting an invitation to the President for attending the Army Day, the NA has made it clear to the President that the NA has not made any plans on or developed concepts of the army integration going against the Comprehensive Peace Accord the government had reached with the Maoists, Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2063, Army Act, Accord on Weapons Management and the Seven-point agreement the four major power centers such as UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF reached.
The NA statement has said that a maximum number of combatants to be integrated into the army will be 6,500 following the Seven-point agreement; combatants to be integrated need to meet the criteria except for the agreed exemptions; the integration will be on an individual basis rather than a bulk entry. Integration will be started off selecting the combatants by the divisions and battalions located nearby the cantonments. Selected combatants will go to 35 to 40 training centers and sub-centers of the NA for the international level of training; officer level trainees will go to the Army Academy for a regular course. The NA has shortened the training period for the combatants following the request of the Prime Minister but it has to be finalized.
