Kerala: Payment delayed for student Police Cadets, Ex-Servicemen appointed for election duty

By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Jun 1, 2024, 12:51 PM IST

The payment was delayed for student police cadets and ex-servicemen who were appointed for election duty despite the Kerala government's allocation of funds. The Kerala government had allocated Rs 6 crore for the same.

Thiruvananthapuram: Former student police cadets, along with NCC and NSS students who served as special police officers during the Lok Sabha elections, have yet to receive their payments. The Election Commission stated that although the state government has allocated Rs 6 crore, there is no established rule for compensating these students. Additionally, ex-servicemen are facing difficulties as they repeatedly visit offices in pursuit of their promised rewards.

Due to a shortage of police personnel, ex-student police cadets and NCC/NSS students were appointed for election duty. Ex-servicemen were also enlisted for this purpose. In total, 22,000 individuals from these groups were appointed as special police officers.

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They were responsible for overseeing polling booths on the day of voting and the day before. They were to be paid Rs 1300 per day for these two days. To cover this, the state government allocated Rs 6 crore to the Election Commission. However, the commission has decided that only ex-servicemen will be paid. The Election Commission of India explained that students cannot be appointed for security in this manner, thus they will not receive payment.

Despite the State Election Commission being informed in advance about the appointment of special police officers by the state's Department of Home Affairs, there have been delays in payment. Special police were also appointed during the last assembly elections. Despite the commission acknowledging that there was no issue with paying ex-servicemen, they also did not receive their payments. Despite three requests from the Director General of Police (DGP) and the Home Department to the Commission to pay all special police officers, including former student police cadets (SPC) officers, no action has been taken. Consequently, students, including former SPC officers, are still awaiting payment for their work, even after the election results have been announced.

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