Temporary police recruitment from October end

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Aug. 23: Nepal Police Headquarters is making preparations to recruit temporary police popularly called Myadi police from the last week of October for the elections to the House of Representatives and Provincial Assemblies slated for November 20 this year. 

The police have sent a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs stating that 130,000 full-time policemen are required for the November 20 elections.

“However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has not yet responded to the proposal. The Ministry of Home Affairs should coordinate with the Ministry of Finance regarding the proposal of the Police Headquarters,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and Spokesperson for the Headquarters Tek Prasad Rai said.  

A senior officer of the police headquarters said that if the proposal sent by the police is approved by the Ministry of Finance and Home Affairs, the Headquarters is preparing to hire temporary police for the elections from the last week of October.

Hiring temporary police earlier will add financial burden to the government, so we will begin this process only 45 days ahead of the election date, DIG Rai said. “Probably, the enrollment process will start from the end of October,” he claimed. 

The Ministries of Home Affairs and Finance Ministry determine the number of police officers required for elections. Earlier, the police had recruited 100,000 full-time temporary police just a month ahead of the May 13 local level elections.

Adopting the same model, the government is preparing to recruit temporary policemen by paying them one month’s salary in the upcoming election to the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies. 

Apart from temporary police, the police have also sent a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs stating the requirement of 1,700 new vehicles, a police officer at the Headquarters said.  

The police had used 1,200 rented vehicles for the local level elections.

DIG Rai said that everything regarding the number of Myadi police and vehicles would be known only after the proposal sent by the police is approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Fanindra Mani Pokharel, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson for the Home Ministry, said that the Ministry was holding discussions with the Ministry of Finance about ensuring the budget for the recruitment of the temporary police.

“We are discussing with Finance Ministry about temporary police recruitment so that we can get one month’s salary for them. Our effort is to enrol 120,000 forces as much as possible,” said Pokharel

Apart from manpower and vehicles, the police also lack small arms to use for elections. During the local elections, the police hired 2,000 pistols from the Nepali Army. 

The police said that they would again ask for pistols from the army for the November elections.

As the arms procurement process has become more difficult, the police have prepared to ask for the arms with army again. 

The Central Election Cell of the Police Headquarters has written to district police offices to inform about the resources required in the respective districts, said DIG Rai.