Special Police Officers (SPOs), who play a key role in Jammu and Kashmir’s security operations, said on Thursday that they perform a range of duties for the police but earn meagre salaries and receive no retirement benefits.
SPOs perform law and order duties, take part in counter-insurgency operations and also don the role of domestic help to senior police officers. “SPOs are used into all sorts of work..into law and order, CI operations and attending the offices and homes of the police officers. Kumar claimed that a single-bench decision of the high court was given in favour of VDC SPOs. It has sought data of VDC SPOs from the home department, which has not been provided till date.
But contrary to the post, they take home a paltry sum of ₹ 6,000 to ₹ 18,000 a month. Shashi Kumar, a VDC SPO, said: “After 2016, there is a proper recruitment of the SPOs, but when militancy was at its peak, there was no hard and fast rule, and anyone who wanted to become an SPO could join the police force. He stated that since the matter has been sub judice before the High Court since 2022-23, nothing has been paid to the VDC SPOs, who number around 2300. The home ministry order rechristening VDCs as VDGs and fixing ₹ 4500 a month to each one of us was arbitrary and unjustified,” said Kumar. November 19 has been fixed as the next date of hearing,” he said.
Because we were engaged with VDCs to combat terrorists, before the High Court, we are seeking our regularisation.
Since then, the aggrieved VDC SPOs have moved the J&K and Ladakh high court, challenging the home ministry order. “The DB today held another hearing.
