One and a half lakh election police officers have been selected for the upcoming House of Representatives elections.

A total of 149,090 election police officers, including 133,980 under the Nepal Police and 15,110 under the Armed Police Force (APF), have been selected to be deployed under the Nepal Police for a 40-day period of duty for the election security to be held on 21 Falgun. The selected election police officers have started training from Sunday (today) from the relevant units of the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force.

The Police Headquarters has stated that the 40-day period of duty will be determined by counting the appointment from the day the training starts. Those deployed under the Nepal Police will be given basic election police security training from the police and those deployed under the armed forces from the armed forces. After 10 days of training, the election police officers will be deployed in the field together with the police and the armed police.

According to the police, under the basic security training, the election police officers will be trained on subjects such as how to greet police officers above them (Jai Nepal), how to adjust their physical position, and how to behave with the general public in the field. Similarly, topics such as not giving any personal opinion regarding the election, not engaging in activities in favor/opposition, and providing information about basic police behavior will also be taught during the 10-day training.

It is stated that after completing the basic training, the deployed police or armed forces units will be fully accountable to the deployed police. If the election police are deployed as team leaders by regular police or armed forces personnel as needed, the election police will have to work responsibly with their commander.

From December 25 to January 3, about 200,000 people applied from all over the country. Those selected were given appointment letters from Sunday and deployed for training. Those between the ages of 18 and 54 were invited to join the election police. The selected election police have been given basic salary, uniform, ration and other facilities similar to those of the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force.

According to the ‘Unified (Police and Armed Police Force Nepal) Procedures on Recruitment, Selection, Appointment and Mobilization of Election Police’-2082, an election police officer is paid a salary of Rs. 869 per day and Rs. 40 paisa for 40 days, a ration allowance for 40 days as determined by the District Rate Determination Committee (varies according to the district), Rs. 846 per person (transportation allowance) for going to and returning from the place assigned to the election, a lump sum of Rs. 1,200 for lunch expenses at the rate of Rs. 300 per day for four days, and a uniform clothing allowance as determined by the police and the armed forces in that district according to the weather in the district.

Accordingly, the election police have received clothing expenses as per the prescribed criteria. On the basis of that, they will have to wear the same clothing and work in the election police. If the election police officer is injured in the course of his duty during the period of duty, the injured person will be provided to the injured person and in case of death, the compensation amount as determined by the government will be provided to the next of kin.