KATHMANDU, April 20: PLA
commanders on Thursday told party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal that they
don´t have any savings left from the cantonment´s accounts to hand over
to the party headquarters.
The commanders said so during a general staff meeting of the PLA when
Chairman Dahal asked them to hand over the amount for distribution among
the combatants recruited into the YCL back in 2007. These combatants
have been demanding voluntary retirement packages on par with PLA
personnel.
"We have already given him what we had. The PLA has already been
dissolved. Why keep on talking about the issue that has already lost its
significance," said a division commander requesting anonymity. Party
leaders say it is strange for the commanders to argue that the PLA
accounts have already been exhausted. The PLA leadership had collected
Rs 1,000 every month from each of the 19,000-plus combatants in the
cantonments, and had also received the salary of absentee combatants.
Last February, the commanders, under tremendous pressure from the
combatants, had revealed that they had Rs 410 million in total.
As per the account revealed then, the first division had Rs 60 million,
second division Rs 40 million, third division Rs 140 million, the fourth
division Rs 80 million, the fifth division Rs 30 million, sixth
division Rs 20 million and the seventh division Rs 40 million.
According to sources, the amount of money handed over to the party so
far is far below what the commanders had revealed earlier.
The first division and the second division have handed over Rs 20
million each to the party, third and fifth Rs 15 million each, and the
rest four divisions are yet to hand over any amount to the party.
In total the commanders gave Dahal Rs 70 million.
As per the latest data, there are still 1,600 ex-combatants in the YCL and the party has pledged to give them Rs 100,000 each.
"The party protected the corrupt. It is sheer drama not to provide any
relief packages to the YCL," said YCL leader Shyam Kumar Budha Magar. from Republica daily newspaper | |
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