BSP workers for payment of dues to cops

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 18

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) activists came forward in support of protesting police constables and head constables today and demanded speedy redress of their grievances. The BSP activists took out a rally seeking immediate intervention of Chief Minister Harish Rawat into the matter.

The agitated BSP activists, led by its Mahanagar unit president Tausif Khan, gathered at Gandhi Park. They took out a protest rally that passed through Clock Tower, Panchyati Mandir and Tehshil Chowk and culminated at the SSP’s office.

The activists raised slogans in favour of constables and head constables during the rally and submitted a memorandum to Dehradun SSP Pushpak Jyoti for Chief Minister Harish Rawat, demanding redress of the grievances of policemen.

Tausif Khan said a large number of policemen abstained from participating in the agitation due to discipline but the protest started by few policemen was a serious threat for the department.

The state government should take immediate steps to sanction arrears and remove the pay anomalies of constables and head constables of the state.

Policemen were considered backbone of the police department. Despite that, the state government had not taken any steps to address their grievances, he added.

Jagram Singh, Ajaypal, Ramesh Kumar, Usha Devi, Shyam Singh, Anita Valmiki, Surajbhan Singh, Sumit Kumar and Tejpal were among others who participated in the protest rally.

SP also supports demand

Members of the Samajwadi Party burnt an effigy of the Police Department at Lansdowne Chowk here today.

They seek pending arrears and better pay scales for the policemen. The workers alleged that instead of solving problems of the policemen, the state government and officials of the Police Department were unnecessarily threatening them. Protesters alleged that the government was spending crores of rupees in useless projects in place of paying sufficient salaries to the policemen who were struggling for their livelihood.

They threatened to launch an agitation if demands of the police personnel were not resolved soon.

Samajwadi Party state secretary Murari Lal Yadav said, “Police personnel have to work 24 hours for the protection of civilians but the state government was not providing sufficient facilities to them.” The protest was a signal of big revolt and instead of punishing those, officials of the Police Department and the state government should work on solving their problem. He threatened that if the pending arrears would not be paid soon, they would intensify their protest.

Ravindra Gunsola, Dheeraj Morya, Meena Rana, Som Prakash Arya and Dinesh Datta were among the protesters.