Kathmandu, October 29
The second meeting of the study subcommittee on the procurement of uniforms for the election police, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force will be held today. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 am at Singha Durbar.
On October 2, a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee under the House of Representatives formed the subcommittee under the leadership of RSP lawmaker Manish Jha. Its task is to study the procurement of uniforms for the election police.
The other members of the subcommittee are lawmakers Ain Mahar, Yogesh Gauchan Thakali, Aren Rai, Khagendra Sunar, Khushbu Oli, Rameshkumar Malla, Ganesh Dhimal and Mahendra Bahadur Shahi.
The subcommittee has been given two months to complete its work. It plans to study the complaints received within this period and submit its report.
Nepal Police had purchased uniforms for the election police in Magh last year. Lawmaker Khagendra Sunar has been raising questions continuously, claiming that irregularities took place during the procurement.
For the House of Representatives election held on March 5, Nepal Police recruited 133,980 election police personnel, while the Armed Police Force recruited 15,110. In total, 149,090 election police personnel were recruited.
Depending on geography, the minimum expense per person was Rs 50,954 and the maximum was Rs 86,484. They received payments for 40 days of remuneration, rations, transport and snacks.
The government allocated uniform expenses at Rs 11,500 per person for those deployed in the mountain region, Rs 7,945 for the hills and Rs 6,170 for the Terai. About Rs 1 billion was released under the election police uniform heading.
Police Headquarters also provided Rs 848 per person as preparation expenses for travelling to and from their assigned locations. It gave a lump sum of Rs 1,200 for snacks during four days of training.
The dispute concerns the money spent on uniforms. The parliamentary subcommittee was formed to study questions over whether substandard materials were supplied to police personnel who were appointed for only about a month and a half.
The subcommittee’s secretariat said it is collecting the information it has received and studying it.
