India News | Will Resolve Grade-pay Issue of Cops in 24 Hours if Voted to Power: Gujarat Cong Chief

Gandhinagar, Mar 25 (PTI) Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor on Friday sought support of the police force and promised to resolve their long pending issue of higher grade-pay if the party comes to power after the state Assembly polls likely to be held in December this year.

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Lower rank police personnel in the state, mainly constables, have been demanding higher grade-pay for some time now, with some of them even protesting and taking part in sit-in stirs, while some have taken to social media to vent their anger.

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Thakor, while addressing a gathering of tribals in Gandhinagar, turned to policemen deployed there and claimed the issue remained unresolved because of some RSS supporters among policemen. He labelled such persons as "khaki chaddiwalas", an apparent reference to the Sangh Parivar organisation's early uniform of khaki shorts.

"Some khaki chaddiwalas (persons wearing shorts) also serve in the police force. They are the reason why the issue of your grade-pay remains unresolved till date. Just give us (Congress) your support and I promise we will resolve this issue of grade-pay in 24 hours," said Thakor.

His statement came hours after a constable, Raja Rabari, started a sit-in protest outside his police station in Kutch district over grade-pay issue. Rabari also made a short video and circulated it on social media.

"I have been serving as a constable at Khadir police station in Kutch district for the last four months. Though the state government has claimed it has formed a committee to solve the issue of grade-pay, nothing has been done even after five months have passed. I will continue my protest until the government comes up with a solution," Rabari can be heard in the video.

In November last year, the Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi had announced that a committee had been formed to resolve the issue of grade-pay of policemen.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)