The Police constables protesting by wearing black bands on their sleeves against alleged pay anomalies may prove to a setback for the cause they are fighting for, said sources privy to the State Government’s top brass. It would delay things rather than expedite them, said a senior police official on condition of anonymity. The State Cabinet Ministers and administrative officers are angry and they are unlikely to genuflect before the disgruntled policemen taking to pressure stunt, he added. Things would have ended more favourably for them had they adopted the normal channels of grievance redressal, he opined.
However, the irony of the situation is that most of the policemen in the State are morally supporting the cause of their agitating brethren. But they are shying away when it comes to championing the cause in public. Some policemen say that if the State Government agrees to pay the pending allowances on par with the Sixth Pay Commission report each one of the constables might get more than one lakh.
However, the majority opinion in the force is that the State Government must sooner or later come forward to redress the grievances of the police constables.
“The State Government must get off from the high horse, as keeping such a large section of police force perpetually disgruntled would prove dangerous for the law- enforcing agencies,” said a senior cop who insisted on anonymity.
Notably, the state government had implemented the revised pay structure from January 2011, but writs were lodged in the High Court, demanding hiked pay with retrospective effect from 2006. Then Government has to bear the burden of around `150 crore to rectify the pay anomalies of police constables as things stand now. The matter is now sub-judice with Uttarakhand government having filed an appeal against the single bench court that had ruled in favour of the litigants.
Whenever the state government is confronted with the matter of clearing the dues of such policemen they tend to cite fund crunch. But with things going the ominous way, the state government seems to have no option but to soften stance, said an observer. “However, things would be finally settled after the state High Court delivers its ruling,” he added.