Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has given the gift of honorarium increase to the soldiers of the Provincial Guard (PRD). The uniform allowance of soldiers has also been increased from Rs 1500 to Rs 2500. Also, now the soldiers will be given two pairs of uniforms in two years and a washing allowance of Rs 200 per month like Home Guards.
On Monday, at the PRD headquarters on Tapovan Road, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami made several announcements for the soldiers on the foundation day of PRD. Also, as the chief guest, he took the salute of the military parade and released the slogan of PRD “Ahamsmi Yodh” and provided assistance to the dependents of the soldiers.
CM Dhami’s gift to PRD soldiers
On this occasion, Chief Minister Dhami said that PRD soldiers will now be given one warm and one normal uniform every two years. Besides, the monthly honorarium of Block Commander posted at development block level and Halka Sardar posted at Nyaya Panchayat level will be increased from Rs 600 and Rs 300 to Rs 1000 and Rs 500 respectively. Apart from this, PRD soldiers deployed in disaster rescue work will be given additional honorarium at the rate of Rs 50 per day, currently their honorarium is Rs 570 per day.
9400 PRD soldiers are deployed
At present the number of PRD soldiers in the state is 9400. At the function, Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Rekha Arya said that along with Chardham and Kawand Yatra, PRD soldiers play an important role in disasters. The government is trying to provide them all facilities. On this occasion, Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma Kau, Special Principal Secretary Sports and Youth Welfare Amit Sinha, Director of Youth Welfare Department Jitendra Sonkar were present.
Uproar for equal honorarium as Home Guard
During the ceremony, some PRD soldiers also created ruckus with various demands. After the Chief Minister left the function, the soldiers placed their demands in front of departmental minister Rekha Arya and said that they should be given an honorarium of Rs 28 thousand per month and 356 days of employment like home guards.
CM Dhami made this announcement
At the function, Chief Minister Dhami said that the state government is working seriously for the welfare of PRD soldiers and their dependents. In this context, in case of death of a PRD jawan on duty during communal riots, the amount of assistance given to his dependents has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Also, the amount of assistance payable in case of death while on highly sensitive duty has been increased from Rs 75 thousand to Rs 1.5 lakh. He said that till now 116 dependents of deceased PRD soldiers have been registered. Of these, 70 were provided employment, including 25 women.
