The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : End to gram rakshis’ woes in sight

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Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
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End to gram rakshis’ woes in sight

Staff Reporter

They have been agitating for the past five years seeking fair deal

BHUBANESWAR: Five years of relentless agitation by gram rakshis, the lowest-rung workers of the State police department, may see light at end of tunnel this time. Speaker Maheswar Mohanty on Monday asked the State government to consider their demands sympathetically.

Each time Orissa Legislative Assembly goes into session during past five years, hundreds of partly khaki clad gram rakshis squat along the Mahatma Gandhi Marg here seeking a respectable monthly salary at the rate fixed for daily wages.

Raising the issue in the Assembly on Monday, BJP legislator Baidhar Mallick said the salary of gram rakshis was too less keeping in mind the amount of efforts they put in to pass on messages. “They have been neglected for years. The need a salary to lead a respectable life in society,” Mr. Mallick said.

These village-level personnel, who monitor disturbances in their areas and report the same to the police, have been receiving salary of Rs. 400 per month, which cannot even give a healthy meal per day to a school-going child.

Their second major demand was supply of a pair of uniform every year and winter clothing in every two-years.

“We stay six days in village and keep track of outsiders, unknown to local populace, or having mysterious behaviour. On the seventh day, we submit our reports to local police station. This is not a part-time job,” Fakir Mohan Mallick, general secretary of Nikhila Utkal Grama Rakshi Sangha (NUGRS), said. NUGRS general secretary said: “over 18,000 gram rakshis have been going through the humiliating treatment being meted out to them by the State government.” The other demands of gram rakshis include ex gratia of Rs. 5 lakhs for those who die on duty and provision of pension after retirement.

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