Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has said that Home Guard jawans in the state would be provided with 12 months of duty every year without a break. This was announced by him while presiding over the state-level function of Home Guard jawans organized by the State Home Guards Welfare Association, Himachal Pradesh, at Sundernagar in Mandi district on Sunday.
There are about 8,000 Home Guard jawans in the state, he said, adding that the Home Guard personnel are posted as assistants to the police in all the districts and work as an emergency force in case of any kind of emergency.
“The state government has made a respectable increase in the honorarium of Home Guard jawans. The daily honorarium of Home Guard jawans has been increased from Rs 675 to Rs 883 per day, which has benefited thousands of them,” he said.
The state government was spending Rs 3 crore per month and Rs 34 crore per annum on the post-increment honorarium to Home Guard jawans, said the Chief Minister, adding that the recommendations of 6th Pay Commission have been implemented for all the employees in the state.
The state government has also taken the decision to give arrears from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2021. He said that in case the Home Guard jawans posted outside the district or the state, then daily allowance is given at the rate of Rs 60 per day.
The Chief Minister said that the state government has also increased the rank allowance of Home Guards posted on honorary posts in the Home Defence Department and rank allowance has been increased from the Company Commander to the Section Leader.
He said that now the Company Commander would get Rs 50 per day instead of Rs 30, Senior Platoon Commander and Platoon Commander Rs 40 instead of Rs 24, Havildar Rs 30 instead of Rs 18 and Section Leader Rs 20 as rank allowance per day instead of Rs 12 per day.
Home Guards Welfare Association presented a cheque of Rs 1.51 lakh to Chief Minister Thakur for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund on the occasion.