Family members of Madhya Pradesh policemen have threatened to hold protests if their demands, including more pay and allowance, better service conditions and housing facilities, are not accepted. A group of female relatives sat on protest at the Nehrunagar Police Lines in Bhopal, but relented after senior police officials called on them late on Tuesday and on Thursday, assuring them that their grievances would be taken up with the government.
Some female relatives gathered near their residential blocks on Thursday afternoon to express their grievances, but were persuaded by those in charge of the police lines to give some time to the government. When The Indian Express visited the police lines, the female relatives refused to talk. On Wednesday, they alleged that their husbands ended up working for up to 18 hours and were never given leave when needed.
A head constable and a constable on Thursday said on the condition of anonymity that the female relatives have given a week’s time to the government. Both complained that leaves often get cancelled due to VIP visits and police deployment on the occasion of festivals round the year.
When reached for comment, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Dharmaveer Singh, claimed the family members were not protesting, but raising their genuine grievances. “They are facing a lot of issues, just like other government employees. They want wage parity with their Chhattisgarh counterparts,” he said, adding that the grievances have been conveyed to higher authorities.
The ASP said constables are bitter that their salary is lesser than a patwari. However, he said the police authorities are not treating the act of raising grievances as indiscipline.