Home Guards hit streets demanding better pay

Home Guards hit streets demanding better pay

                                                   By Girish Kumar Dubey

Friday, October 26, 2007 | MP
Ghazipur (UP), Oct 25 (ANI): Home Guard personnel took to the streets of Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district on Thursday with begging bowls in their hands demanding regularisation of their service and better pay package. The Home Guard personnel are sent on duty for three months in a year to assist the police in performing their duties.

 

They said that they were not able to actively discharge any work apart from policing because sometimes they were called in for urgent tasks and officers charge them with indiscipline. "Some of the Home Guard personnel are working as labourers in order to survive.

 

We have placed all our demands before the government and made them aware of our problems. In our department, even expressing our genuine problems and feelings is termed as misbehaviour, " said Shivsagar Pandey, a home guard. These Home Guard personnel in Khaki uniforms are deployed to ensure security of ministers and are on duty at police stations also. However, they have to buy their uniform, shoes and belt themselves. "The person recruited for this service holds a secure, respectable job. This is not just an ordinary service, but a respectful job. The motto of the Home Guards is to serve the country selflessly.

 

 We are working on that only," said Jyoti Kumar Raizada, a Home Guard commandant. The government has recruited them mainly to look after the arrangements during elections, but has not done anything to ameliorate the pitiable condition in which these unfortunate Home Guards live. According to the records, a total of 1,20,000 home guards are in Uttar Pradesh, of which, only 20,000 guards are sent on duty and 8,000, are sent to private places for work.In Ghazipur, the total number of home guards is 1500 of which, only 300 are on duty. Similarly in Varanasi, only 750 guards out of 3900, in Mirzapur 350 guards out of 1200, in Sonbhadra 300 out of 700 guards and in Badohi 300 out of 600 guards are given work. As a result, at least 80 per cent of the Home Guard personnel remain idle during the year. (ANI)