Kathmandu, October 29
A parliamentary subcommittee has begun a preliminary study into questions raised over the procurement of uniforms for election police, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force Nepal.
At its meeting on Thursday, the subcommittee also finalised an internal working procedure, setting November 16 as the deadline for completing the preliminary study.
“Details have been received from Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force regarding the questions raised publicly,” a subcommittee member told Onlinekhabar. “There are piles of documents. They arrived in a sack.”
According to the member, arrangements have been made for the documents to be examined at the subcommittee’s secretariat.
“We aim to complete the preliminary study by November 16. We will see how much we can accomplish by then,” the member said.
Nepal Police procured uniforms for election police in January last year.
For the March 5 House of Representatives election, Nepal Police recruited 133,980 election police personnel, while the Armed Police Force recruited 15,110, bringing the total to 149,090.
Depending on the geographical region of deployment, the expenditure per election police personnel ranged from Rs 50,954 to Rs 86,484. The amount covered 40 days of remuneration, rations, transportation and snacks.
The government allocated uniform allowances of Rs 11,500 for personnel deployed in mountain regions, Rs 7,945 for those in the hills and Rs 6,170 for those in the Tarai. Around Rs 1 billion was released under the uniform budget.
Police headquarters also provided Rs 848 as preparation expenses for travel to and from deployment locations and a lump sum of Rs 1,200 for snacks during four days of training. The current controversy concerns the uniform allowance.
The subcommittee was formed to investigate allegations that election police personnel, who were recruited for only around one and a half months, were supplied with substandard uniform materials.
The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives formed the subcommittee on October 2, 2026, to study the uniform procurement.
The nine-member panel is led by Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Manish Jha. Its members are Ain Mahar, Yogesh Gauchan Thakali, Aren Rai, Khagendra Sunar, Khushbu Oli, Ramesh Kumar Malla, Ganesh Dhimal and Mahendra Bahadur Shahi.
The subcommittee held its first meeting on October 7, followed by its second meeting on Thursday. It has been given two months to complete its study and submit a report.
