The Odisha High Court has directed the Commandant and Assistant Commandant of Home Guards and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Cuttack to issue identity cards to the Home Guards working in the urban areas of Cuttack within two months.
Justice Biswanath Rath issued the directive on Tuesday after hearing a petition filed by the president of Nikhil Utkal Gruharakshi Mahasangh Pratap Kumar Sahu.Sahu had informed the court that the concerned authorities, in an advertisement on December 12, 2010, had informed the Home Guards working at several duty posts to report at the Home Guard office premises in Cuttack for photo sessions from January 4 to 10, 2011 for issue of identity cards (IDs).
Acting on the directive, about 1,000 Home Guards had attended the photo session. However, the authorities have not yet issued any I-cards to them though three years have passed since then.Taking strong exception to the gross apathy of the authorities, the Mahasangh later filed the petition in the High Court seeking its early intervention in the matter.The Government has yet not commented on the issue on when the action could be taken.