Thiruvananthapuram: Concerned over the high risk involved in the Naxal hunts in deep forests, the state police has urged the government to immediately announce allowances and compensations to the cops venturing for anti-Naxal operations.
The officials of CRPF’s anti-Naxal unit, Cobra, and Hyderabad’s Greyhound are paid huge monthly allowances and compensations in case of any mishaps, while the Kerala cops, who are not well-trained in jungle warfare, lack any of these.
The issue was raised by senior police officers at a meeting with chief minister Oommen Chandy here on Wednesday.
The Naxal scenario in the state was also reviewed at the meeting which discussed immediate steps like procurement of advanced weapons.
Though the government earlier had announced various measures, including formation of anti-Naxal squads with special allowances, the finance department has been sceptical due to the additional fiscal burden involved.
“Naxal hunt is a risky affair. Considering this, the personnel of Greyhound and Cobra are paid up to 50 percent of their salary as allowance.
In case of any major mishap, their families are entitled to befitting compensations.
Without offering such incentives and allowances, it would be difficult to get sufficient number of cops for anti-Naxal operations here,’’ said a senior police officer.
It is learnt that the efforts of the state police to form an anti-Naxal squad by drawing personnel from the existing armed police battalions have evoked feeble response from the cops.
This might be due to the lack of proper allowances, sources point out.
