Chennai: A file containing the grievances of members of the elite bomb detection and disposal squad, which is the first line of defence when it comes to security of VVIPs in the state, has reached the CM’s office. “Though we are the team checking VVIP routes and visiting venues, we are still contract workers. We are asking for permanent positions in the BDDS,” an explosive expert from the squad said.
Upset over non-confirmation of their employment as bomb technicians, a group of explosive experts in the state bomb detection and disposal squad had been shooting out letters to the Tamil Nadu chief minister for more than a year now.
They had sent a petition last year to the chief minister with the signatures of 29 bomb technicians. All of them had experience ranging from 7 years to 2 years. BDDS members pointed out that people recruited between 1991 and 2008 were confirmed by the government, but not those recruited after 2008.
Representatives of BDDS recently met chief minister O Panneerselvam and chief secretary. Both of them had reportedly promised to consider their demand. “We are not in our 20s to keep on waiting. Most of us have crossed 40. We are working for a mere contract salary with no incentives from the government,” a BDDS member noted.
Interestingly, the BDDS members had approached higher ups at least 30 times without getting a proper reply. The file, which finally reached the CM, had shuttled between departments at least 15 times.
BDDS work areas are mainly the CM’s house, CM’s route and secretariat apart from any other bomb threat locations on need basis. The BDDS was formed in the state in 1991 after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a bomb blast in Sriperumbudur.
