The Armed Police Force (APF)-a para-military force-has placed a demand for 3,500 more personnel with the government, a newspaper report said.
According to Nepal Samacharpatra daily, Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka has submitted a proposal to this effect to the council of ministers.
The APF has proposed to set up bases in Narayani, Sagarmatha and Gandaki zones also so as to make it present in all 14 zones in the country. The Force has also proposed to set up a separate division to coordinate its activities in the three districts of Kathmandu valley. Royal Nepalese Army and Nepal Police already have such mechanism.
The APF now has nearly 17,000 personnel operating under its banner. The Force was set up by the then government led by Prime Minister G P Koirala to combat the Maoist insurgency. The APF personnel are currently deployed at districts highly affected by the insurgency, to guard customs offices and bordering areas and the Royal Palace.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary-who also holds the finance portfolio-has been quoted as saying that government didn’t have adequate budget to recruit more personnel. The daily has quoted Finance Ministry sources as saying that they were facing difficulties in allocating money to recruit more security personnel at a time when the general expenditure had already exceeded development expenditure.
The Defense Ministry has already demanded with the government to add 15,000 more personnel in the Royal Nepalese Army. If the government okays the proposal, the RNA’s total strength will cross 90,000 mark, reports said.