Bengaluru: It has been more than 20 days since the state government received the Raghavendra Auradkar committee report on salary hikes to police personnel. But the government is yet to decide whether to implement the recommendations in full or to tweak them to reduce its financial burden.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who holds the finance portfolio, has reportedly not yet made up his mind as he was involved in Cauvery water dispute-related developments over the last month. It is said that he is likely to hold a meeting with Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwar in a week or two.
Home department sources revealed that the finance department is reluctant to increase the salary of police personnel by 35 per cent as recommended. If the quantum of increase is that high, the state will have to bear an extra burden of around Rs 400 crore which the finance department is unwilling to approve and is looking at striking a balance. That is what is delaying the process, they said.
“Top bureaucrats in the finance department want the hike to be in the range of 15-20 per cent. But the Home Minister is keen on at least 30 per cent, as promised to the policemen. It will be resolved only after a meeting between the chief minister and the home minister,” an official said.
When policemen threatened to go on a statewide strike on June 4, the state government had promised them that their issues would be resolved. The government formed a committee headed by ADGP (Recruitment & Training) Raghavendra Auradkar to study the pay scales of policemen in the state. The committee submitted the report on September 26, recommending a hike of 30-35 per cent to the personnel in the lower ranks.
After the committee submitted its recommendations, policemen were hopeful of getting pay hikes before Dasara. But now with the delay, they are expecting it to happen before the next big festival, Deepawali.
