Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, Sep 19: The staffs of Andaman and Nicobar Fire Service under the control of the Andaman and Nicobar Police department are nowadays facing destitution because they feel that senior officers of Andaman and Nicobar Police are not taking perfect decisions for them.
The Fire Service personnel used to get Special Compensatory Pay towards their long hours duty including public holidays that has been stopped with immediate effect by the Ministry of Home Affairs with the plea that it doesn’t have the IFD’s approval. Sadly, it would be seen that the SCP was sanctioned way back in the year 1987 for A&N Police and the benefit so extended to Fire Service, Police Radio, PMF, IRBn etc being the integral part of A&N Police.
Another dimness for staff is that they were engaged in 24 hours duty and 24 hours off duty system in 02 shifts. This set-up had been introduced by the then DGP, Mr. S.B. Deol, IPS the then DGP after examining the facts and circumstances of staff from every corner. For which, the staffs expressed thanks to him and the said duty system was going on fruitfully and beneficially.
Now, due to intervention of some officers, the duty system going to be replaced with 12 hours duty and 12 hours off in two shift soon. This will defiantly spoil the moral and enthusiasm of staffs towards their participation in any emergency situation. Besides, the proposed duty system brings hardship to the staff in welfare measures of their family as they have to do work for 15 nights continuously.
The new DGP Mr. Sudhir Yadav has suggested introducing 08 hours duty system in three shifts for welfare and effectiveness on workmanship considering all those facts and circumstances, but this is also going to be futile, many believes.
On intervention of a few Fire Brigade officers with an utter motive and for their personal gain this system was proposed stating “acute shortage of man power”, which is purely baseless as it has been reported that the technical staffs of Fire Brigade have been engaged as Clerks despite the posting of clerical staffs from A&N Administration.
