Ignoring the UN, the Nepal government on Thursday decided to go for fresh recruitment to fill up vacant posts in the Nepal army. An instruction to this effect has been given by Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari to new Army Chief Chhatraman Singh Gurung following official feedback that nearly 9,000 posts at various levels have been lying vacant for sometime.

The army did not fill up these positions as the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M) and the United Nations Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) had insisted in the past that any recruitment in the army will go against the letter and spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) — signed by G P Koirala as Prime Minister and Prachanda as head of the head rebel force ¿ in November 2006.

Defence Ministry sources confirmed that the minister had already instructed the Army Chief and that they would be duly honoured.

The ministry is also likely to overrule an objection raised by the Human Rights Commission in Nepal (OHCHR) against the promotion of Maj Gen Toran Bahadur Singh to the rank of Lt Gen on the plea that Singh headed one of the brigades when there was “massive human rights violation there”.

The ministry is believed to have found out that Singh is not guilty of rights violation case.

“Moreover, the OHCHR has been trying to meddle in the day to day affairs of the country and this is not something we are going to tolerate any more,” a senior official of the Defence Ministry told The Indian Express.