Odisha govt yet to take a call on fresh recruitment of home guards
BHUBANESWAR: Even as large-scale vacancies in the present strength of home guards continue to hamper diverse policing responsibilities like regulation of traffic, watch-and-ward at static locations and vital installations, the Odisha government is yet to take a call on resuming their fresh enrolment.
The recruitment of home guards has been discontinued since February 2020 following a complexity created by an order of the Orissa High Court to remunerate home guards at the minimum pay of constables as decided by the Supreme Court in 2015.
Sources said the decision was valid then as constables in the state were being treated as contractual during the first seven years of service and the remuneration of home guards would have become more than the constables creating an unusual situation.
However, the situation has changed now and the constables are receiving regular salaries from the entry stage. The state government has also agreed to implement the order of the Supreme Court and consequently the duty call-up allowance (DCA) has been increased to Rs 533.
Sources in the Odisha Police said, in the changed circumstances, there is a need to review the decision taken in 2020 and resume fresh enrolment of home guards to tide over the crisis that arose due to the vacancies and rising demand of deployment.
Of the sanctioned strength of 17,675 home guards, there are 1,977 vacancies in the organisation in different districts. Apart from policing responsibilities like regulation of traffic, watch-and-ward at static locations/vital installations, driving police vehicles and operating CCTNS computers, the home guards are also engaged in large numbers in major law and order arrangements, including route lining during VIP visits.
In natural disasters and emergencies, they are also called upon to perform supporting functions. They are the major workforce during elections as around 14,000 of them are usually engaged in polling booths to provide security cover.
A senior police official said unlike many states where police stations have 80 to 150 constables, Odisha has 10 to 30 constables. The state’s requirement of home guards is high, particularly during elections. They are a highly flexible resource in terms of their hiring, engagement and diverse nature of duties performed. If they are not available, constables have to be detailed to perform the same job at greater cost, he pointed out.
The shortfall has affected so much that most districts have removed home guards from front-line police duties like traffic and many watch-and-ward duties are not being rationed due to the restriction on fresh recruitment.
Although several PSUs and government bodies have entered into MOUs for engagement of home guards, for which they will pay the cost of deployment, the district commandants are unable to meet the demand due to the shortage.