The Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and National Investigation Department have issued internal circulars prohibiting resignations and home leave.
Ahead of the House of Representatives elections, all four security agencies have prohibited their subordinates from resigning and taking leave.
The Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the National Investigation Department have issued internal circulars banning resignations and home leave after they were required to work in the security of the election scheduled for 21 Falgun.
The Armed Police Force has stated in a statement that resignations, home leave, promotions and transfers have been suspended until the election is over. Nepal Army Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Rajaram Basnet said that the army has been focused on the election. He said that there is no facility for resignation or leave since they have already been deployed in the election. 'The army has been deployed in the election security, there is no leave or resignation as in the regular situation until the voting is over,' he said. The army has been deployed in the election security since Wednesday (21 Bhadra). Nepal Police Spokesperson DIG Abinarayan Kafle said that police officers across the country have been banned from resigning and going on leave until the election is over. 'The police are preparing to go out into the field with a focus on election security. Currently, election-focused human resources are undergoing election security and training. They have been barred from resigning and taking home leave until the election is over,' said Spokesperson Kafle. 'Leave, maternity leave, and urgent and unforeseen circumstances are managed accordingly.'
More than 3.25 million security personnel are being mobilized for election security. Out of this, the army has started deploying human resources to the field from Wednesday. An integrated election security action plan has been made to deploy about 80,000 army personnel, about 71,000 police personnel, about 35,000 armed forces, and about 2,000 National Investigation Department personnel to the election. According to the action plan, 149,090 election police personnel have been recruited for a 40-day work period and are undergoing basic security/training training from the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force. The election police will also be deployed in the field from next week.
The Election Commission has also directed the government not to make any decisions that affect the transfer/promotion of employees, appointments and voters, targeting the upcoming elections, and to do so only with the approval of the Commission if necessary. Elections are being held in a single phase on 21 Falgun for 110 seats in the proportional representation and 165 seats in the direct representation.
