More than 300,000 personnel deployed
KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 16
The Ministry of Home Affairs said it had completed all preparations related to security arrangements for the upcoming November 20 election, with the deployment of security personnel across all 77 districts of the country, including in some areas where it was snowing.
The ministry said that more than 300,000 security personnel, including 150,000 temporary cops have been deployed to ensure that the election will be held in a peaceful and cordial environment.
Joint-secretary Fanindra Mani Pokhrel, also the spokesperson of the MoHA, said, "We are confident that the election will be held mostly in a peaceful manner as no serious threat targeting the election has surfaced lately." He also urged all and sundry to participate in the election in a confident manner and enjoy their rights.
The government has also formed an 'integrated security plan' devised especially for the peaceful conduct of the election. The security planning consists of all four security agencies - Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department.
Security officials of all these agencies are mobilised in civil dress and in uniform to investigate and find out any kind of possible threats and handle them in a professional manner.
As per the plan, temporary police and Nepal Police personnel will provide security in the innermost circle around all election booths. These officials will be in close contact of the public as they will be static and are required to give security to that particular booth or area. In the outer line, police personnel of Armed Police Force will patrol the area and be largely responsible for controlling and combating any mob, if necessary.
These units will be mobile.
Similarly, there will also be mobile team of the Nepali Army in the outermost line that will check, control and combat larger threats, if found. The security personnel in civil dress and personnel from the NIB will continue to work on security issues round-the-clock.
The government has not provided Personnel Security Officers for any candidate this year. However, the candidates who already have PSO will continue to get the service. Similarly, the government has said it will provide security to candidates if they ask for it with plausible reasons.
The security arrangements that will come into force from tomorrow onwards will be in place until the victory rally of political parties following the announcement of the final results of the elections.
Security agencies have been assigned to focus on the security of voters, election candidates, political leaders, general public, election officials, warehouses of election logistics, polling stations, and ballot counting centres, among others.
The ministry has also asked all to dial 100 and let the police know if they suspect any untoward activities related to the election.
People can also go to the near police station or alert the respective District Administration Offices to notify them of any suspicious activities.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 17, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
