The election police have returned home as soon as the counting of votes for the House of Representatives members has been completed. The Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force (APF) bid farewell to the election police deployed across the country on Thursday.

In some districts, they have already returned a few days ago after completing their responsibilities. The police and the Armed Police Force have organized a formal program to appreciate the contribution made by the election police in the election security management. They have also urged them to play a positive role in peace and security management, improving citizen-police relations, and preventing and controlling crime.

Police spokesperson DIG Abinarayan Kafle said that the contribution and role played by the election police during the 40 days of the election will be fruitful and useful for the society. He also said that the election police can make an important contribution to the society in the role they should play as good citizens, and the police will make good use of it in the future.

149,090 Nepali citizens aged 18 to 54 were recruited into the Election Police for a period of 40 days and deployed for security. Before the 21 Falgun election, and throughout the counting period, they were deployed in the election security field as assistants to the police and the armed forces.

Out of which, 133,990 Nepal Police and 15,110 Armed Forces were recruited into the Election Police. The Election Police deployed under the Nepal Police were mobilized as assistants to the police in securing the polling stations, while the armed forces were mobilized as their supporting forces in accordance with the responsibility of the external security perimeter.

Sen Bahadur Khatri of Katari Municipality-2, Kalyanpur, who returned home after completing his responsibilities as an election police officer, shared his experience of learning, experiencing and knowing the things he learned during this period with the Nepal Police that will be useful in the future. Khatri, who was deployed under Lalitpur district, was also deployed as a temporary police officer in the previous House of Representatives election. This is the second time for him. "The election was held peacefully, the responsibility was fulfilled without any untoward incident, this is the great thing," he said, "In addition, we were able to work with the army for one and a half months in peace and security management and election security, we learned a lot from this, it has also inspired us to be disciplined and good citizens in the future."

Bishnukumari Galan, 32, of Naukunda Rural Municipality-3, Rasuwa, who returned home on Thursday after leaving the responsibility of the election police, also said that she was happy to serve the country by working in election security. Galan, who was recruited under the Kathmandu Police and deployed in the Dharmasthali area, said that the knowledge and experience she learned during this period will also be helpful to society.

‘We learned how to manage peace and security by working with the police during the elections. On election day, we worked at the booths and helped with voting security,’ she said, adding, ‘This 40-day experience also helped us maintain peace and security in the society, become disciplined, and understand how security personnel work.’

Ganesh Poudel, 19, of Jhowang, Annapurna Rural Municipality-5, Kaski, was deployed to secure the polling station at Narayan Secondary School, Madi Rural Municipality-8, on February 21. He was deployed on duty with the police in the same area before the election. Poudel also returned home from the Ward Police Office Baidam (Kaski) on Thursday after completing his responsibilities. He says, ‘There was a fear that there would be any untoward incident on election day, but the election was peaceful. We found the voters to be supportive. There were no clashes or arguments. I have returned home after fulfilling my assigned responsibilities.’ He said that the experience he has learned and experienced now will help him become a good citizen in the future.

Like Khatri, Galan and Poudel, about 150,000 election police officers from across the country were recruited on 3 Magh, received 10 days of basic security training and 1 day of election security refresher training, and were deployed in the field. They were deployed to guard polling stations on 21 Falgun.

Those recruited into the election police were provided with basic salaries and facilities in line with those of the police and armed police personnel, including clothing and ration allowances. According to which, an election policeman was provided with a salary of 34,000 rupees for 40 days at a rate of 869 rupees and 40 paisa per day, 40 days of ration allowance as determined by the District Rate Determination Committee (varies according to the district), 846 rupees per person for one time to go and return to the place assigned to the election (transportation allowance), a lump sum of 1,200 rupees for lunch expenses at the rate of 300 rupees per day for four days, and a one-time clothing allowance as determined by the police and the armed forces in that district according to the weather in the district.

The recruitment and selection procedure included a provision that if this manpower deployed in the election was injured in the course of duty, the injured person would be provided with the compensation amount as determined by the government and the next of kin in the event of death. This time, three election policemen died in the course of duty. In the case of deceased election policemen, it is mentioned that the next of kin would be provided with the amount from the government's insurance as compensation.