'Home guards to get all 12 months duty'

shimla: In a major announcement aimed to woo 8,000 home guards employed in the state, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said the home guard jawans would be provided 12 month duty in a year without a break.

Thakur made this announcement while presiding over the state level function of Home Guard jawans organised by State Home Guards Welfare Association at Sundernagar in Mandi district. The Chief Minister is currently touring the districts to launch new projects and inaugurate some of the landmark projects completed during his term.

"The decision will benefit 8,000 home guard jawans in 12 battalions. The home guard personnels are posted as assistants to the police in all the districts and work as an emergency force in case of any kind of emergency," he said. The Chief Minister recalled that home guard was established first in 1946 in Bombay to assist other security agencies including the police and the army for the safety of civilians. After the country became independent, the home guard organisation was reorganised in 1962 and since then, Home Guard personnels were serving in different states and union territories.

Thakur said that Home Guard organisation was also established in Himachal Pradesh in 1962 with the objective of inculcating the spirit of service and patriotism among the citizens and for maintaining law and order in the State.

He said that state government has made a respectable increase in the honorarium of Home Guard jawans. About 3 months back, the state government had decided to increase the daily honorarium from Rs 675 to Rs 883 per day which benefitted thousands of home guards of the state.