NHRN
Kathmandu, Apri 17: At a time when the Maoists have dismissed the government's proposal on integration of their combatants kept in cantonments, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjong has claimed that the integration will complete within the next 30 days.
Speaking to reporters in Chitwan Saturday, Chemjong said 3000 Maoist combatants would be integrated as per the proposal of the government and the rest would be rehabilitated into the society with various incentives, including cash hand-outs and vocational trainings.
He said the number of combatants to be integrated in the state's security agencies is based on the 'one weapon one combatant' theory.
Some 34,00 weapons of the Maoist combatants have been locked up in containers in the seven main cantonment sites in different parts of the country.
Meanwhile, minister Chemjong also claimed that the Maoist leadership, during talks with the late Girija Prasad Koirala, had agreed to integrate only 3000 combatants. "All the parties are ready for carrying out integration as per the government's recruiting standards. Why are the Maoists not accepting the same?"
Describing the integration of combatants as an integral part of the peace process, minister Chemjong reiterated the government's stance that the integration should start before the promulgation of new constitution.