The Supreme Court has said that paying Rs 9,000 per month to Home Guards in Odisha is nothing but exploitation and asked the State Government to reconsider its decision.
“To pay Rs 9,000 per month is nothing but exploitation. How a Home Guard personnel can survive and maintain his family members on payment of Rs 9,000 p.m. only when he is performing almost the same/similar duties which is performed by other police personnel,” said a Bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice BV Nagarathna on Wednesday.
The court said it is also not in dispute that many of the Home Guards are working for more than 15 years.
“The other police personnel in the State are getting approximately Rs 21,700 plus DA (dearness allowance) as per the recommendations made by the Seventh Pay Commission (after 6 years of their contractual appointment),” it pointed out.
Scheduling the matter for further hearing in July, the Bench said, “We direct the state government to reconsider its earlier decision of paying Rs 9,000 per month only to the Home Guards.”
The court made the observations while hearing an appeal against an order of an Orissa High Court Division Bench directing the State Government to pay at the rate of Rs 533 per day to the Home Guards from January 2020 instead of November 10, 2016.