Centre hikes honorariums of SPOs in J-K

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs Wednesday approved a substantial hike in the honorarium of Special Police Officers (SPOs) in Jammu and Kashmir.

The hike has come in the wake of reported resignations by several SPOs after three police personnel were shot dead by militants in south Kashmir's Shopian district last Friday.

"The proposal of the State Government regarding the enhancement of monthly remuneration of the SPOs of J&K has been considered by this ministry, a communication from MHA addressed to the State Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam reads.

As per the MHA communication, the SPOs who have less than five years of service would now be paid a monthly remuneration of Rs 6,000, while those who have completed five years of service would be paid Rs 9,000 per month.

Those who have completed 15 years of service would be paid Rs 15,000 per month.

It said the new scales of remuneration would be implementable with immediate effect.

According to an official of the State's Home Department, the proposal sent by J&K Government in this regard was cleared by the MHA within 48 hours.

He said around 30,000 SPOs presently working in the state would benefit by this substantial hike.

He said as per the existing scale, the SPOs who have rendered one year of service were being paid Rs 5000 remuneration per month, the SPOs who have rendered between 1 and 2 years of service were being paid Rs 5500 per month and those who have completed more than 2 years were being paid Rs 6000 per month.

The Jammu and Kashmir government Tuesday said the number of resignations of SPOs, who have borne the brunt of militant attacks, is "negligible" and is restricted to certain areas of south Kashmir only.

State chief secretary Subrahmanyam had said all SPOs have been instructed about their personal safety while the government was in process of enhancing their honorarium.

Earlier reports suggested that the killings had triggered panic in the lower ranks of the police department with at least six policemen resigning.

The Home Ministry had said the reports have appeared in a section of media that some special police officers in Jammu and Kashmir have resigned, but the state police has confirmed that these reports are "untrue and motivated".