KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Maoist chairman Prachanda met at the PM’s Koteshwor residence today. The PM said he asked Prachanda to cooperate with the government on the integration process and distribution of monthly allowances to Maoist fighters. The PM also asked the Maoist boss to provide exact number of the UNMIN-verified combatants.

The government has asked the UNMIN and

the Maoists to provide actual strength of the combatants. It has also decided that the monthly

allowances would be provided to the fighters in

the presence of independent observers, human rights activists and mediapersons.

A guideline made by the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry in November 2008 has stated that the monthly allowances would be provided to the combatants through bank cheques in the presence of independent observers, human rights activists and the media.

Peace and Reconstruction Minister, in an interaction last week, however, said the ministry’s set guidelines had been breached in most of the camps.