The Rising People’s Party (RPP) has claimed that the TA/DA rate for uniformed police personnel on election duty outside the state, which was previously capped at Rs1,500, had been reduced to Rs 550, as per an April 9, 2024 notification of the state’s Finance Department.
As per sources, the party in a press said the previous rate of Rs 1,500 was not supposed to be “high” since accommodation, transportation and ration were already taken care of by the state government and hence it seemed the Finance Department had rectified the “anomaly” by bringing the amount down to Rs 550.
However, regardless of the Finance department’s justification, the party strongly urged the state government to review its decision. For almost three months, the RPP pointed out that four battalions of the state’s jawans and officers had been carrying out election-related duties in stifling heat all over India during the worst months, already claiming three precious lives of the uniformed personnel.
Hence, the party contended that the paltry amount of Rs 550 per day could not justify the daily expenditure incurred where jawans had to buy bottled water and sundry, and sometimes source nutritious food for themselves given the quality of food provided at the mess. The party insisted that the inhuman notification of for Rs. 550 per day was unjustifiable.
While the Finance Department bureaucrats sitting in the office might make easy talk regarding Rs.1,500 or Rs. 550, the RPP asserted that the circumstance of election duty in sweltering heat for several months while carrying out one’s duty responsibly was no mean task, and demanded that the issue was rectified before the jawans reached home.
Insisting that the previous amount of Rs 1,500 per day should be restored and the jawans paid this amount ex post facto with immediate effect, the party also demanded a thorough investigation into the circumstances under which the jawans operated in hostile conditions.
At the same time, adequate compensation of at least Rs 10 lakh each should be paid to the bereaved families of the three jawans, the party demanded. If the same NDPP/BJP coalition could sanction a colossal amount of Rs 52 crore to build a new stage and amphitheatre at Kisama to commemorate 25 years of Hornbill Festival, describing it a task almost unnecessary whereby the old building/rostrum would be broken down completely for a new “vanity project”, the RPP demanded to know why it was so difficult for the coalition government to show some compassion.