Say they have been overlooked in spite of GR announcing pay scale and allowance parity with state police
Say they have been overlooked in spite of GR announcing pay scale and allowance parity with state police
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Three jailbreak cases have been reported in the recent past from the short-staffed and ill-equipped Yerawada Central Jail. Jail guards blame it on the manpower shortage and point to several unkept promises by the state government, which had announced they would be accorded parity with the state police.
According to them, jail staffers in the state have been left high and dry even though a government resolution was issued in 2006 announcing parity in pay scales and allowances between jail guards and the state police.
Jail guards deployed at the Yerawada Central Jail broke their silence and told MiD DAY that the state government was meting out partial treatment.
They says the disparity is ultimately affecting their morale as they work in the already overcrowded jail that houses 3,700 prisoners.
"In all the states in India, the jail staff faces a bias when compared to the state police," said K V Reddy, president of All-India Prison Officers Association. "From 1952 to 1972, the jail staff was paid more than the police, but the scale was revised after that. State governments and politicians are often neglecting the issues affecting jail staff."
Reddy said that unlike the state police, jail officials are not entitled to allowances and medical facilities availed by the city police. As a result, the family of a jail guard undergoing bypass surgery at a prominent hospital in the city is under pressure to collect money, as unlike the police there is no welfare scheme available for jail guards.
On the other hand, as per the Maharashtra Police Arogya Kutumb Kalyan Scheme, police officials and their family are entitled to free medical treatment at selected hospitals and their hospital bill is reimbursed. There is no such provision for the staff attached to Maharashtra Prison Department.
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A jail guard, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that unlike the city police, who are free to travel in the city on PMPML buses, they are forced to pay for their own travel even for official purposes.
A guard said if a prisoner is shifted to Sassoon hospital and a guard is appointed at the hospital, he is forced to travel back at his own expense to mark his presence in the jail's register.
Besides this, for the last 16 months, aahar bhatta (food allowance) was not paid to jail staff, unlike the state police. "There is parity in pay scales of jail staff with Maharashtra Police," said Sanjay Kumar Verma, Special IG Prisons. "Only for some middle-level jail staff the pay scale levels are not matched with that of the police, but work is in progress to match the two."
Verma refuted allegations that jail staff was not entitled to medical reimbursement, and said food allowance was given to those who were on duty for a certain number of hours.
"The jail staff is entitled to medical reimbursement. Aahar bhatta is issued only to those whose duty is more than eight hours and those who work more than eight hours per day are entitled to it," he said.
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