KATHMANDU: The State Affairs Committee of the Legislature-Parliament has issued a directive to the Ministry of Home Affairs to hold intense discussions before reaching a conclusion on the proposed Armed Police Force (APF) Regulations.

In today's meeting of the Committee held under the chairmanship of the Committee president Dil Bahadur Gharti, the Committee has also directed the Ministry to submit a detailed action plan within five days with the details on the relief distribution operation being carried out by the Armed Police Force (APF) following the April 25 quake as well as last year's floods.

In an earlier meeting of the Committee, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Bamdev Gautam, had clarified that there was no any dispute between Nepal Police and Armed Police Force in connection to the Armed Police Force Regulation.

According to the proposed Regulation, APF would be vested with the authority to issue arrest warrants within 24 hours of the incident, shared DPM Gautam.

As per Article 24 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal and Article 9(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his/her arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him/her.

DPM Gautam explained that the lack of clarity concerning the proposed Regulations had led to some issues.

On the occasion, Gautam informed the Committee that the Council of Ministers had taken a decision to provide Rs 50,000 to each quake-hit families to purchase land and Rs 75,000 to build house.

Arguing that no quake-hit Nepali was reported to have died due to hunger while the government was struggling to manage the disaster to the best of its capacity, Gautam opined that Nepal would not have to seek support from the international community if the human and natural resources of the country was tapped prudently for the disaster management.

The DPM said that the concerned Ministries were already instructed to minimise losses incurred due to the natural disaster, to gear up for the rescue and relief operation and be prepared for floods and landslides in the monsoon, especially in the districts hardest hit by the quake.

Lawmakers, however, criticised the government accusing it for not formulating any concrete Action Plan for the disaster management, for failing to function effectively in relief distribution and not taking any interest in issuing the Disaster Management Act.