Kathmandu, March 8:

With the favourable political developments in recent days, morale of the civil servants has gone up to conduct the Constituent Assembly (CA) election successfully, say secretaries of the major ministries.

“Due to favourable activities of the parties recently, we are positive that election will be held and we are keenly waiting for the historical day,” said home secretary Umesh Raj Mainali while addressing a function organised by Reporter’s Club here today.

Mainali said there are two major players behind the scene who contribute to the success of the election - the fourth estate-media, and the fourth arm- civil servants. According to Mainali, no complaints have been filed by any groups regarding the obstruction to nominate candidacy in the Tarai districts. “Some 4,000 candidates are in the field and over 55 parties are participating in the CA polls. Therefore, neither security forces nor civil servants would have any difficulty to conduct the election in a free and fair manner,” he said.

Meanwhile, defence secretary Baman Prasad Neupane, said that whatever the Nepal Army officials might say, the government is the one who is going to decide on the integration of the Maoist army and inclusion of Tarai people in the Nepal Army. He also said that the government has not decided on deploying Army during the CA polls.

Secretary at the ministry of information and communications, Yubaraj Pandey, said the ministry was ready to discuss if there are any complaints regarding the misuse of state-owned media and make necessary corrections, if needed .

Finance secretary Bidhyadhar Mallik, said that the foreign aid would double given that lasting peace is restored through successful election. “Finance ministry has already released Rs 2.4 billion for the election,” he said adding there was no problem of resources. He, however, lauded the need of financial transparency among the parties that may create problem if not audited properly.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Gyan Chandra Acharya, said that the popular and legitimate election would bring us a new political structure and the support from the international community is essential for the sustainable development of the country.