Now, canteen facility for policemen in rural areas
Tribune News Service
Shimla, September 23
The Himachal government will provide three Force Traveller vehicles to police department for extending the mobile canteen facility to serving and retired police personnel in rural areas, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today said.
Inaugurating the Central Police Canteen at police headquarters at Shimla today, the Chief Minister said the canteen would go a long way in facilitating 17,000 serving police personnel and families of 20,000 retired policemen.
Apart from getting quality products at subsidised rates, the families of police personnel would get the goods of daily use under one roof, he said and directed the police department to explore the possibility of starting such service in rural areas also.
He announced that the state police would be allowed to set up retail outlets of Indian Oil Corporation on available police land. The profit earned by operating these petrol stations would be spent on providing scholarships to meritorious students of police personnel.
Honorary ASIs and Honorary head constables would investigate of cases having punishment of imprisonment up to seven years, Thakur said.
Under the Central government scheme launched in 2016 to set up canteens for Central police forces, 18 canteens have been set up in the state providing cheaper goods to police personnel, both serving and retired and total turnover from these canteens was about Rs 8 crore and consumers benefited to the tune of Rs 1.70 crore, DGP SR Mardi said.
Police canteens are functional in all 12 districts and six other places and two more canteens would be opened soon, he added. Besides, items of daily need like toiletries, home appliances, electricals, food items, textiles, footwears, cosmetics and electronics are supplied through these canteen and prices of goods are fixed once in a year.
The goods to these canteens are supplied through the master canteens.
The state government is perusing the matter regarding exempting these canteens from GST on the pattern of Army canteens with the Union government.
