BENGALURU: A huge number of the City Armed Reserve (CAR) personnel have neither been getting their weekly off nor the compensation for it since last year.
A constable said he had not been getting leave nor allowance since June 2016 while two others said they had not been getting it since October.
The reason why they are made to work extra days is that the force is short-staffed. The allowance is `200 for every extra day of work. Several other constables also don’t get leaves or allowance for various periods.
A constable said, “Sometimes CAR personnel have to work for an entire month without a break. And those who are deployed to be escorts for VIPs and VVIPs have to be on duty from morning till night.”
The allowance for working on their weekly leaves had been brought in place after the constables had threatened to go on a strike in June 2016. They had alleged harassment by senior officials and had demanded higher pay and a regularised leave plan. But they had been forced to call off their protest after the government warned them of strict action.
A head constable said it is sad that so many personnel, who are educated and on whom lakhs of rupees have been spent during training, are doing menial jobs like house work and driving for senior officers. He said Grade-C employees, including head constables, were also being made to do such jobs.
D Kishore Babu, Deputy Commissioner of Police, City Armed Reserve, acknowledged that the issues exist. He said the department will start to pay the allowances soon and the personnel will also be paid arrears for all the extra days they have worked on until now.