Upset over reports that their pay scales are going to be reduced, over 250 policemen went on a mass leave and some of them assigned for giving a guard of honour to the visiting Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, abstained from duty in Jodhpur on Monday.
Policemen have been agitating for a few days demanding better working conditions, an increase in mess, hard duty and motorcycle allowances and implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations from January 1, 2016.
Mr. Singh, who came to Jodhpur to inaugurate the newly constructed building of Intelligence Bureau’s regional centre, was to be given the guard of honour at the airport.
As the constables refused to report for duty, the Police Commissioner Ashok Rathore replaced them with other policemen and arranged for a guard of honour at the venue of the function.
Mr. Rathore said action would be taken against the policemen for dereliction of duty.
Tonsure protest
Meanwhile, a few constables in Jaipur who tonsured their heads as a mark of protest were shifted to the Police Lines.
Director-General of Police Ajit Singh has written to Inspectors-General and Superintendents of Police, asking them to hold a dialogue with the agitating constables.
The matter has also taken a political twist with the policemen seeking the Opposition Congress’s support for protecting their service conditions. After a delegation met Pradesh Congress president Sachin Pilot, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said the State government must talk to the policemen and “find a solution”.
