3,668 dismissed SPOs yet to return their uniforms in J

Srinagar, May 17 (UNI) As many as 3,668 Special Police Officers (SPOs), disengaged from service in Jammu and Kashmir during 2001-06 on account of dereliction of duty, anti-national activities and desertion, were yet to return their uniforms to the stores, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

It also said the Jammu and Kashmir government was yet to frame the norms and criteria for selection of SPOs as recommended by the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Parameters Review Committee in October 1998.

To assist the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the report said the central government had sanctioned 23,200 SPOs and 2,274 Grade-I SPOs in 2001-02 on payment of honorarium during 2001-06 at the rate of Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 per month respectively.

The honorarium of Rs 225 crore paid in this regard had been reimbursed by the Centre from 2001-12 to 2005-06, it added.

In October 1998, the report said the SRE Parameters Review Committee had recommended to the state government to fix norms and criteria for selection and training of SPOs, but these had not been framed till June 2006 even after the lapse of seven years.

It further said the SPOs disengaged from service on account of dereliction of duty, anti-national activities and desertion were required to return the uniforms to the stores to prevent misuse.

However, the report said check of records of seven district Superintendents of Police revealed that 3,668 SPOs disengaged from service during 2001-06 had not returned their uniforms to stores.

''No efforts were made by the authorities concerned to retrieve these uniforms,'' it added.

The report said the Home Department had stated in October 2006 that the Senior Superintendents of Police concerned have been instructed to recover the uniforms from the disengaged SPOs.

UNI