Chandigarh: At a time when Haryana is facing a statewide strike by clerks since 5 July, the lower ranks of the police force have now taken to Twitter to voice their demands for better working conditions and pay parity with other government employees.
Using the hashtag #Haryana-police-mange-apna-hak, hundreds of policemen tweeted Sunday about their grievances and expectations from the authorities. The tweets tagged PMO, CMO, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Some of the key demands include 8-hour duty shifts instead of 24-hour shifts; removal of pay anomalies; pay scales equal to Punjab Police, or at least Rs 35,400 as basic salary; increase in risk allowance to Rs 10,000 per month from Rs 5,000 paid earlier; travel allowance being made part of the salary; hike in ration and uniform allowances on par with Delhi and Chandigarh Police and simplification of leave process.
One of the police personnel who organised the campaign told ThePrint that they chose this mode of protest because, unlike government employees, they could neither hold protests nor form associations. “Hence, we decided to raise our voice on Twitter.”
Notably, Section 55 of the Haryana Police Act deals with “restrictions respecting right to form associations and freedom of speech”. The section says that without the express sanction of the state government, no member of the police force shall be associated with any trade union, labour union, political association, or any class of such unions or associations, among other restrictions.
It also debars police personnel from participating or addressing any meeting, or taking part in any demonstration organised by any body of persons for any political purpose.
According to the source mentioned above, they had submitted a representation to the home minister and the home secretary earlier, but no action was taken. “Now, we have decided to organise campaigns on Twitter from the handles of our family members, friends nd relatives without coming out directly in the open,” he added.
The source also revealed that they shared messages and banners on WhatsApp groups in various districts to make the hashtag trend. “In order to ensure that the hashtag trends well, messages were being shared on WhatsApp groups of policemen. The banners mentioning our demands were shared with our colleagues,” he added.
Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, who is known for being active on Twitter, said he was unaware of any such campaign by the police personnel. “I will look into the demands only once someone comes before me,” he told ThePrint Monday.
Tweets with messages
The tweets not only highlighted the demands of the police personnel, but many of them also brought to light the problems they faced while on duty.
“A jawan of Haryana Police remains on duty for 24 hours. Due to this, he is not able to celebrate any festival, be it Holi, Diwali or Bhai Dooj. Can’t attend family functions. Have to miss weddings or parties in families and meetings in the schools of their kids. In return, they get a meagre salary and scolding from the senior officers. It is the government’s duty to take care that cops are also human beings but they are being made to work like animals,” a Twitter user posted in Hindi.
Another Twitter user highlighted the difficulties faced by a policeman in daily life. “If you have not eaten anything since morning and don’t get anything to eat in the evening too, it’s not necessary that you are poor. You can be in the police too,” she said.
पुलिस के जवान 24 घंटे अपनी ड्यूटी करते हैं & ग्रुप C में भी आते लेकिन ग्रुप C के अनुसार उनका उनका वेतनमान नहीं दिया जाता । हर चुनावी समय में हर पार्टी वादा करते लेकिन किसी ने पूरा नहीं किया#haryanapolice35400#Haryana_Police_mange_Haq35400 #Haryana_police_mange_apna_hak pic.twitter.com/TJvvtav47j
— Meena Kumari (@miNu__yaDaV) July 23, 2023
Some other tweets have pictures of Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn in police uniform with a message, “Jab duniya jashn manati hai, tab police farz nibhati hai (When people celebrate, the police are performing their duties).”
#haryanapolice35400 #Haryana_police_mange_apna_hak pic.twitter.com/4N3c93LFIJ
— Mohan g (@Mohansi86636957) July 23, 2023
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Other demands
Interestingly, the police personnel also demanded an end to their “exploitation” by senior officers and said that only written orders should be followed by subordinates.
Moreover, the juniors should be free to refuse compliance with any orders given orally, they demanded, claiming that this would not just end their exploitation, but would also help in ending corruption.
They also said that if a senior officer recommends disciplinary action against a junior, the senior officer should be transferred to a different district for three years.
Sharing a table of basic salary of police constables in comparison with other Group C employees, the source mentioned above told ThePrint they were earning much less than most others who had started with the same pay scale in 1957.
He said that police constables, clerks, primary teachers, multipurpose health workers, junior engineers and deputy rangers all had a basic salary of Rs 60 in 1957. Currently, police constables get Rs 21,700 as basic salary, while the four other categories barring clerks draw Rs 35,400, he added.
In Haryana, hundreds of clerks are already on a strike demanding a hike of basic pay from Rs 19,900 to Rs 35,400.
Claiming that the government was in touch with clerical staff demanding basic pay equivalent to similar rank posts in the government departments, the source said, “Our demands should also be considered, because like the clerks, police constables had equal pay scale initially.”
Other demands include the benefit of ex gratia according to the current designation, loans at lower interest rates, and cashless medical facility for all ailments under the state’s Limited Cashless Policy-2017.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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