TS Govt Urged To Enhance Home Guards Salaries To Rs.20,000

Hyderabad: The State Government was urged to take immediate steps to better the living conditions of the Home Guards by enhancing their wages and providing other facilities on par with the permanent police constables.

Members from both the Treasury and Opposition benches made this fervent appeal to the government during question hour in the Telangana Assembly on Friday while highlighting the pathetic living conditions of the Home Guards despite they were performing their duties on par with the police constables. TRS member Srinivas Goud expressed his anguish that the working and living conditions of Home Guards remained the same despite numerous representations made to successive governments.

He said the services of Home Guards were being used in maintenance of law and order, enforcing Traffic regulations, during times of emergency and natural calamities. As a matter of fact, the Home Guards were discharging their duties on par with police constables and still their demand for increasing their wages was not being conceded. He also stressed the need for providing maternity leave for woman Home Guards on par with woman police constables.

BJP floor leader G. Kishan Reddy stressed the need for enhancing the salaries of Home Guards to Rs 20,000 per month. He pointed out that Home Guards were not being given holiday or even paid wages for working on Sundays. He wanted bus passes and other benefits that are being provided to the police constables to be also given to Home Guards.

Replying to the members, Home Minister NayiniNarsimha Reddy said the TRS Government was committed to ensure better working and living conditions of  Home Guards. In fact, their wages as well as other facilities were better than their counterparts in other States. He reminded that the Home Guards were paid Rs 100 per day in 2009 and slowly increased year after year. The TRS Government has enhanced it to Rs 400 per day from April 2015. Besides, the government has also been providing them uniforms and other benefits being given to police constables.