BHUBANESWAR: There is a shortage of 43,108 home guards in the State as against the norm prescribed by the Centre.
The latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said against the total normative requirement of 58,816 home guards, the State has only 15,708 home guards, which included 1,188 women. The CAG said the available number of home guards was equal to the sanctioned strength and there was a shortage of 43,108 (73 per cent) against the prescribed norm.
Home Guards Compendium of Instructions 2007, issued by the Centre, prescribed the norm of 110 home guards for every rural block and equal number for every population segments of 25,000 in the urban areas. As per the norm, requirement of home guards in 314 blocks of the State was 34,450. In the urban areas, 24,276 home guards were required. The Home department stated that the State Government had been moved in July, 2009 for increasing the sanctioned strength of the home guards.