GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that 762 Personal Security Officers (PSOs) who were attached to politicians and important personalities in the state have been withdrawn in the recent past.
On the advice of the Security Advisory Committee, set up to review threat perceptions, people belonging to different political parties and others have given up their PSOs without objection, Sarma said while addressing mediapersons here.
A total of around 2,000 PSOs are expected to be withdrawn in the days to come, and "this will help us in getting two new battalions", he said.
The chief minister told mediapersons after a cabinet meeting on January 1 that his government took a decision to bring in a new policy for deployment of PSOs in the state, and their services would no longer be a "status symbol".
The security advisory committee would review the allotment of PSOs except for those in constitutional posts or in positions which require cover, he had said.
Four battalions of the Assam Police, comprising 4,240 personnel, were earlier engaged as PSOs, with half of them allotted to politicians.