Queer though it may sound, even after 14 years since Uttarakhand came up as a State, the village watchmen locally known as village praharis who keep vigil in the villages to prevent crimes and keep police informed about any anti-social activities, get Rs500 per month. Adding to their woes is the irregularity in the payment of even this meagre amount of Rs500 as wages.
This state of things has been going on for the past two years and more. Earlier, they used to get Rs200 per month. The State Government has adopted a callous attitude towards the plight of these watchmen whose number in the State is over 7,500, it is said.
Hundreds of such village watchmen under the banner of Uttarakhand Gram Prahari Union had staged a stir at police barricade outside Rispana on March 16. They chose the time of their stir keeping in view the ongoing Budget Session of the State Assembly. They informed that they have not been paid for the past 23 months.
According to the protesters, they report crimes to the local police station, Revenue police, Naib Tehsildar, Tehsildar and others on regular basis. Besides, they are not paid adequately when they are deployed on election and other Government works, the protesters alleged.
The association president, Ram lal said they have been agitating for the past so many years on their six-point charter of demands. But successive State Governments have failed to address them.
The representatives of the association had met the Chief Minister and other Cabinet Ministers earlier and despite assurances, their demands remain unaddressed, he added. The nature of the crimes has been changing fast as compared to the past.
Cyber crimes are on the spiral, compounding their hardships in keeping peace in their respective villages. Their charter of demands include minimum wages being fixed at Rs10,000 in tune with the Central Government’s guidelines and regularisation of jobs among others.
Besides, each village watchman should be given uniforms and identity cards. He further said around 6,000 posts of peons and others are lying vacant in Revenue police and this crunch keeps adversely affecting their work.
Notably, the institution of village police or village watchmen came into being as per Section 47 in the Police Act, 1861. By this section, the authority of district magistrate and district superintendent of police was extended over village police. Some police officers present on duty at the barricade at Rispana also acknowledged the role of village watchmen in assisting police to maintain security and peace.
The village watchmen report to police regularly. All police station in-charges have been asked to keep phone numbers and addresses of village watchmen to be in direct touch with them to check crimes, they added.