Former Chief of the Army Staff General Satchit Shumsher Rana said Sunday that with the present rate of success of the Royal Nepalese Army, the Maoist problem is likely to be over within a year’s time.

Rana however said that in order to achieve the envisaged goals the army must be given the needed logistics and support besides regulating the open border.

The former army Chief was speaking at a talk programme on ‘Security Concerns of Nepal’ organized by the Nepal International Center Sunday.

He said the Royal Nepalese Army must be expanded, improved and modernized to face the security challenges facing the country.

But in the 12 years, nothing was done to improve and modernize the army, Rana said.

In 1951, Nepal had a standing army of 33,000 soldiers. But the then government cut it down to 9,000 in the name of modernization. The first phase of the army’s expansion began in 1961 by later King Mahendra. By the time of his death in 1972, the strength of the army had gone up to 22,000. Late King Birendra continued to develop the army, and by 1990 its strength stood at 50,000 men. nepalnews.com am July 22