SPOs reiterate demand for permanent employment

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Sept 25: Special Police Officer’s Welfare Society (APOWS), the parent body of the Special Police Officers (SPOs) while staging protest at Dispur Last Gate on Tuesday reiterated their demand for permanent employment.

It must be mentioned here that the SPOs were temporarily recruited during the Congress regime and were engaged in various districts of the State which were inflicted by militant outfits and ethnic conflict from 2008 to 2012. However, once the law and order situation in those districts were restored, the possibility of employment of the entire SPOs were mired with uncertainty.

Talking to The Sentinel, the APOWS said, “Some of our officers namely, Lalit Borgohain, Bisheswar Bora and Munin Baglary were killed by the Dima Halom Dauga-J (DHD-J) cadres in 2009 at Dima Hasao district while Biraj Das was killed by the NDFB outfit in 2013 at Chephanguri.”

The APOWS further said, “Ironically, around 1000 former militants were absorbed in the Assam Police following the ceasefire in 2010. However, the SPOs, who had been quite instrumental in fighting against those militant outfits, were discharged from their duties in 2015 putting their lives and sacrifices in darkness.” According to the APOWS, the SPOs were initially paid a meager remuneration of Rs 4,840 as which was later increased up to Rs 8,200 as directed by the Gauhati High Court in 2010. They alleged that in 2013, State’s Home Department assured the SPOs to recruit them in the 3rd Assam Industrial Security Force (AISF) within 2015. However, the assurance of the Home Department has never turned into a reality.

Meanwhile, the APOWS has demanded to recruit all the SPOs in the 3rd AISF and added, “Until the 3rd AISF is created, they should be absorbed in the existing vacancies lying vacant in the 1st and 2nd AISF.”