Kolkata, Sep 10 (UNI) In its bid to stop their shift to the Maoist ideology, the West Bengal Government has decided to promote as constables 5,400 junior constables, mainly youths in Jungle Mahal districts, who were appointed on a temporary basis.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement while addressing police personnel across the state through video conference during a programme that the State Government organised to acknowledge the role of the law enforcers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All 5,400 junior constables posted in the districts of Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore and Birbhum would be promoted as full-fledged constables in the police force. They will be eligible for all facilities and benefits that constables get,” she said.
The junior constables had been appointed on a temporary basis and such an arrangement was confined to the Jungle Mahal.
“The Maoists are trying to regroup now... The ruling party is eager to win back its support base in the areas and the chief minister is apparently depending heavily on these youths,” said a senior government official.
Recently, reports had reached Nabanna from various districts that discontent had been brewing among the lower section of the police force.
“The grievance was mainly because police personnel were forced to work beyond scheduled hours during the pandemic. The policemen started raising their voices when a number of their colleagues contracted Covid-19 and some of them died,” said another senior official.
The chief minister herself said 6,963 police personnel had been infected across the state and 24 of them had lost their lives.
“They (police) risked their lives day in and day out to serve the people of the state,” said Ms Banerjee.
The police also supplied food to the families of Covid patients and those in home isolation or at remote quarantine centres.
Moreover, the police have taken steps to take Covid patients to the hospitals.
Sources said the chief minister did not want to be at the receiving end of the lower and middle rung of the police ahead of the polls as they played a key role in the entire election process.
“The central forces are deployed during the polls and they need to work under the state police. So, the chief minister wants to address their grievances at the earliest,” said an official.
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