In the wake of intensified Maoist attacks against government installations, Nepal's Royal government has offered amnesty and rewards, including cash upto Rs 1 million, employment and rehabilitation, to guerillas who give up arms.
Home Minister Kamal Thapa on Monday announced Nepalese Rs 1 million (USD 14,000) cash reward to the central committee members of the CPN-Maoists who surrender before the government by abandoning the path of violence and terror.
Maoist cadres who surrender with arms will be rewarded with cash prizes ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 500,000 and central committee members who want to give up violence will get upto Rs 1,000,000, Thapa told reporters, unveiling the 'National Policy on Abdication and Rehabilitation 2006.' The policies are introduced with a view to establish and promote peace in the country, he said.
The minister assured legal, physical and economic assistance to Maoists who want to quit terrorism and promise to lead a peaceful life by mid-June. Names of those surrendering will be kept secret for security reason if they wish to do so, he added.
The government has decided to establish a rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu to provide shelter to the surrendered Maoists. Thapa also announced a policy for internally displaced people, which envisages relief and rehabilitation arrangements for victims of conflict, natural calamity and other human borne reasons.
Unveiling the 'National Policy on Internally Displaced People 2006,' the minister said the government aims to help organise and coordinate the problems of the internally displaced people and help mobilise government as well as other resources received from the donor countries and organizations.
Thapa said the government has plans to provide relief assistance, land to the landless people and education facility to children of displaced persons.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has offered to help bring peace between the Maoists and the royal government. Gunther Baechler, special advisor for human security in Nepal by the Swiss Government, said on Monday that the Swiss government was willing to lend its helping hand to restore peace in the Himalayan Kingdom. Peace building has always been a sensitive and complex process, so all the groups involved in the ongoing conflict must come together to restore peace in Nepal, he said.
Only third party intervention can help resolve the internal conflict facing Nepal at present, he said, adding that International community could play a role of mediator in restoring peace in Nepal.
The ten-year long insurgency has so far claimed over 13,000 lives and left over 200,000 people displaced.
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