Miffed at the authorities not addressing their long-pending demands like the regularisation of their jobs as State employees, Prantiya Rakshak Dal jawans took out a rally from Parade Ground to Secretariat on Friday.
Around 100 PRD jawans courted arrest as part of the stir. later, police released them and sent them back at the site from where the rally had started -PRD Jawans Directorate, said City Magistrate GC Gunwant.
A large number of protesters congregated at Parade Ground and shouted slogans against the State Government for its alleged failure to address their long-pending demands.
later, the protesters took out a rally from Parade Ground that consummated at the Secretariat. The protestors were heard raising anti-government slogans all along the route the rally snaked through.
The protesters were stopped by police outside the Secretariat police barricade. They squatted there and staged demonstration in support of their demands.
Police got embroiled in verbal arguments with them. later they courted arrested to be released at the directorate.
Resenting the Government’s indifference vis-à-vis their demands, the agitators said they have been spearheading movements in support of their demands over the past many months.
However, the Government has remained non-chalnat. Several rounds of talks were held with the Government officials and in spite of written assurances being received from the Government’s end, things remained the same on the ground, they said.
The association member Veer Singh Pal said the State Government deploys PRD jawans on different duties like Parliamentary election and state Assembly election, census, Vidhan Sabha session.
They are deployed too at sensitive places. Apart from this, they are being engaged as a computer operator, driver, gardener and gatekeeper in different departments.
They work under difficult circumstances, but what they get as salary is frightfully meager in view of the sky-rocketing prices of the essential commodities, including the edible items, he said.
According to him, their demands include PRD jawans being regularised by amending PRD Act and PRD jawans being separated from Yuva Kalyan department.
The protesters warned that they will intensify the protest in the coming days unless their demands are met soon.