CHITWAN, Sept 14: Altogether 1,647 former UCPN (Maoist) combatants have been selected for the process of integrating into Nepal Army (NA).
With the completion of selection process in all the cantonments, a total of 1,561 combatants have been selected for non-official ranks of the national army.
An official at the secretariat of the Special Committee, Chiranjivi Bhandari, informed that not all the combatants, who had previously submitted their forms opting for integration, attended the selection examination.
The selection process for the position from soldier to Subedar had begun starting September 6. Only 86 former combatants were selected for officer position in the national army. Officials at the secretariat informed that of the total 88 aspirants applying for the officer rank, two were underage for the position.
Division Commander Yam Bahadur Adhikari from the first division cantonments of Ilam led the combatants while attending the selection process for officer rank. Though combatants for non-officer rank were selected in all the seven cantonments, those applying for officer positions were gathered and selected only at the army residential school at Parsa in Chitwan district.
Altogether, 3,123 former combatants were staying in all the seven cantonments awaiting integration. But of them, only 1,646 combatants have applied for joining the national army. The remaining 1,762 have opted for voluntary retirement.
Of them, 122 were selected from the first division cantonments in Chulachuli of Ilam, 202 from the second division cantonments of Sindhuli, 251 from third division cantonments of Chitwan, 286 from fourth division Nawalparasi, 209 from fifth division Rolpa, 271 from sixth division Surkhet and 220 combatants were selected from seventh division Kailali.
The deadline to apply for integration expired Thursday. Officials said those opting for voluntary retirement will be distributed checks starting Friday.
Brigade Commander Govinda Batala at Shaktikhor cantonments informed that all the pre-medical tests, run tests and other examinations have been completed.
The combatants were given 17 seconds to complete 300-meter race and 18 minutes to complete a distance of two miles. Sources said all the combatants performed will in the run tests. Some combatants did not meet the height requirement of 5.2 feet. Minimum weight requirement is 50 kg.
Head of the secretariat Balananda Sharma informed written examinations will be held on September 17. Then, they will conduct oral tests and full-fledged medical examinations. The secretariat is scheduled to publish the name list of the successful candidates on October 7.
Those selected candidates will be given a brief home leave and then sent to army training.
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