Maoists took Rs 27m a month in salary for deserters

KATHMANDU, Nov 29: With 1,094 combatants remaining to be surveyed, the number of ex-Maoist combatants has been found short by around 3,000. This means the Maoist party was drawing millions for allowances and rations even for combatants who had deserted. 

With the deadline for participation in the categorization process expiring on Monday, altogether 15,747 ex-Maoist soldiers have showed up, according to Bala Nanda Sharma, coordinator of the secretariat under the Special Committee.

Now the categorization of only 1,094 is left, in the cantonment in Kailali, according to Gopal Singh Bohara, a member of the secretariat. The cantonment has been given three more days to complete the categorization. 

Even if it is assumed that all the remaining 1,094 combatants turn up for the categorization, the number of Maoist army personnel would come to 16,841, or 2,764 fewer than the figure registered by the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) in 2007. 

This updated figure for the ex-combatants has raised a question about the Maoists over misuse of resources allocated for combatant allowances and rations. As of last month, the Office of Cantonment Management released allowances and rations to 19,525 combatants. That means the Maoists were drawing salary and rations even for combatants who were not there. 

Calculations by Republica show that the Maoists were drawing around Rs 27.5 million every month from state coffers as allowance and rations in the name of absent combatants. The government gives Rs 6,500 in allowance and Rs 2,730 on average for rations to each combatant every month. 

"This is an expected result. Many combatants who were not in the cantonments also came forward for categorization. Otherwise, the number would have been much less," said Dr Minendra Rijal, a Special Committee member, when asked to comment on the drop in the PLA numbers. 

Not a single Maoist leader who could comment on the matter was available.

As a significant number of combatants did not participate in the categorization process, the Maoist party had sent out cadres to villages in Rolpa and Ilam to persuade deserters to come and participate in the categorization. 

"We have found that the Maoists have been luring the deserters to participate in the categorization, saying they would get money for choosing voluntary retirement," said a government official involved in categorization at Dahaban cantonment in Rolpa, over the phone. 

Our correspondent from Jhapa reported that many deserters have come to participate in the categorization process and the Maoist party made them sign an undertaking to give the party 50 percent of the money they will get for opting for voluntary retirement. 

Road ahead 

With the categorization to be completed in all the cantonments in the next three days, the next step in the management of combatants such as when those opting for voluntary retirement will be released from the cantonments and when the Nepal Army will start selecting the qualified combatants, remains unclear. 

"We were given a mandate only to complete the categorization," said Special Committee Secretariat Coordinator Sharma when asked about the road ahead. "But I think those opting for voluntary retirement should be allowed to go to their respective communities as early as possible because we have sensed growing animosity between those opting for integration and those for voluntary retirement." 

Spokesperson at the Special Committee Madhav Prasad Ghimire, who is also the chief secretary, said the Special Committee is required to take a decision on the future course of management of the Maoist combatants once the categorization is completed. 

´The Special Committee will take a decision after it receives a report on the categorization from the secretariat," said Ghimire. 

Maoists insisting late-comers be considered 

Though the secretariat announced the expiry of the deadline for participation in categorization, the Maoists in Rolpa have been insisting that later-comers be considered as well. 

"They have told us that they are bringing more combatants in the coming days and insisting they be considered for categorization also," said an official involved in the categorization in Rolpa. 

But Sharma told Republica that the deadline was fixed in consultation with PLA divisional commanders and cannot be extended except in Kailali. As the statelite cantonments lie in far-flung areas and the categorization process began three days later in the cantonments in Kailali, the secretariat has given three more days to the survey team deployed for categorization there, according to Sharma. 

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