Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Friday directed the state government to give higher grade and remuneration to the Home Guards.
The court directed the state government to pay Rs 500 as duty call-up allowance per day retrospectively with effect from January 1, 2020, as per the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission and strictly implement the order of the Supreme Court within a month.
The order of the High Court will benefit about 17,675 Home Guards in the state.
Talking to the media, senior lawyer of the High Court Nirasundar Panda said that the Supreme Court in an order in 2015 had ruled that the Home Guards should be given minimum pay equivalent to the scale of the lowest rank of the state police with retrospective effect. While eight states have already implemented the order of the apex court, the Odisha government is yet to comply with the same. Protesting against the gross apathy of the state government, the Home Guard had moved the High Court, he added.
