The government has decided to restructure the Nepal Army, keeping the strength of the national defence force intact.

According to government Spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communications Surendra Kumar Karki, a Cabinet meeting held at Baluwatar on Friday evening took the decision to restructure the Army.

The government also decided to provide compensation to the people of the Tharu community whose properties were torched following the Tikapur incident in Kailali in 2015. The compensation amount would total around Rs150 million.

However, the Cabinet did not take any decision regarding the withdrawing of political cases against leaders and cadres of the Madhes, Tharu and Janajati movements as demanded by the Sanghiya Gathabandhan.

Meanwhile, the government formed another taskforce to work on increasing the number of local federal units in Tarai districts.

The panel led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development Bijay Kumar Gachhadar has Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Shankar Nayak and Defence Minister Bal Krishna Khand as members. The team has got five days to submit its report.

Earlier, the government had formed a panel headed by former DPM Kamal Thapa with Khand and Nayak as the members but Thapa resigned over differences with the ruling Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) over the impeachment motion filed against the chief justice.