VELLORE: Nationalised banks and public sector establishments in the district owe payments to the tune of Rs 2.47 lakh to the district police department for extending the services of its personnel on escort duty while transporting valuable goods to their destinations.
Sources in the police department said that the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Indian Overseas Bank, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Arakkonam and Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Limited (TEL) at Katpadi have been availing the services of police personnel from the Armed Reserve Police wing for escort duty to transport their valuables including large amounts of cash, jewellery and other material to their destinations both within and outside the district.
“Banks and other government agencies should compensate the police department for deploying its personnel for escort duty. This amount will be deposited in the escort duty account of the department,” said a source within the police department.
As per the Government Order (GO), any government agency that avails the services of police personnel on escort duty should pay the stipulated escort fee.
As per the GO, police constables should be paid Rs 300 (for 12-hour duty), Rs 500 (for above 12-hour duty) and Rs 700 (for 24-hour duty). Similarly, for Head Constable (HC), the payment is Rs 450, Rs 650 and Rs 800 and for Sub-Inspector (SI) of police it is Rs 700, Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,400 for 12 hours, above 12 hours and 24 hours respectively. Apart from this, the service seekers should pay `75 per day for personnel as food allowance, said a senior police officer.
For monthly duty, the department charges Rs 15,000 for grade -II police personnel, Rs 18,000 for Head Constables and Rs 24,000 for Sub Inspectors, he said and added, “The amount should be deposited in the department’s escort duty account within 30 days of submitting the bill.”
However, the banks and government agencies in the district have failed to make the payment to the men in khaki here for more than four years now. “The banks have not paid the amount for escort duty for the police personnel attached to Armed Reserve police from 2008. The issue was raised in a recent meeting with bankers, but we have not yet received the amount,” said a police officer on conditions of anonymity.
Nine branches of SBI have to pay Rs 45,000 to the department, while the collection centres of IOB in Gandhi Nagar, Ranipet and Tirupattur have a pending payment of Rs 1,64,204 towards escort duty. ONGC in Arakkonam and TEL owe Rs 22,680 and Rs 4,680 to the police respectively, said an official within the police department.
When contacted, an official at a nationalised bank said that he has instructed all the banks to settle their dues with the police department.