Centre enhances pay to arrest SPO resignations

30 lakh. Similarly, the latest MHA communication has asked the state government to enhance the monthly remuneration of SPOs upto Rs 12,000 per month from Rs 6,000.

As resignations increased, the government tried to arrest this trend by enhancing the ex-gratia and the monthly remuneration of these SPOs. The Chief Secretary recently told the media that the number of resignations of SPOs was very negligible.

After the killing of three SPOs in Shopian earlier this month, many of the families of SPOs working with SOG wing of the state police have left their villages in South Kashmir. “We are trying to relocate these vulnerable families and many of them are being helped by the police to get accommodation,” said a senior police officer to this newspaper.

In the Kongan village of Pulwama, most of these families are living in fear and have tried to get area security from police and paramilitary forces. In this small village, more than 40 families have their wards in the state police and the threat to their life has increased.

The state police is one of the main government organisations where the rural youth get employment either as permanent employees or SPOs. At present, the department has over 1.2 lakh employees on permanent basis.

Most of the senior police officers in Srinagar say that this phase would be over very soon and they do not agree that this threat will linger or enhance. “We are after Riyaz Naikoo and his men and recently we have been able to kill half a dozen of terrorists in South Kashmir within a few days. We are hopeful that we will be able to get a grip on South Kashmir very soon,” said a senior police officer looking after the region. The Centre has begun sending 400 companies of additional troops to Jammu and Kashmir for the upcoming polls to urban local bodies and panchayats while the Governor has been briefed separately by Lt Gen A.K. Bhat, GOC 15 Corps, about the security arrangements to be in place especially in South Kashmir for conducting these polls.

Earlier, state police top brass along with senior CRPF officers on Thursday reviewed the security preparedness for these polls. Raj Bhawan is closely monitoring the situation unfolding in Kashmir valley ahead of the polls. Reports said that the Governor has asked the Army, paramilitary and state police top brass to hold meetings in every district of the Valley to boost confidence among the candidates who are in the fray.

Later briefing the media, state police chief Dilbagh Singh said that there is synergy between police and paramilitary forces. Despite having challenging circumstances, he expressed hope that they will provide conducive security environment for the candidates in the entire Valley.

Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam earlier told the media that concerns regarding the security of poll staff, candidates and the common man would be addressed and 400 companies of additional Central forces are arriving for this specific purpose.

Police have already said that they will provide 2 to 3 policemen to each candidate depending upon the threat perception to each of them in Kashmir valley. “We may provide more security to the candidates in all the vulnerable areas of South Kashmir and we have decided to address all the security issues of the candidates,” a senior police officer operating in South Kashmir told The Sunday Guardian.

While there is very little enthusiasm in the Valley especially in South Kashmir regarding these polls, the state government has promised official accommodation too besides security to all the candidates who will contest these polls.

The state administration has already said that after the completion of the election process, the state will get Rs 4,335 crore which have been withheld as the state governments previously failed to conduct these elections. Giving break-up of the funds, the Chief Secretary in a press conference said that Rs 3,029 crore is pending for panchayat bodies while Rs 1,306 crore is pending for municipal bodies in the state.

There have been a number of top-level meetings held between the DGP, GOC 15 Corps and officers of BSF and CRPF in different areas of Kashmir valley ahead of the polls.