DIMAPUR — The Village Guards (VGs) Association of Nagaland has appealed to the state government to enhance their pay and allowances, claiming that their current honorarium payment is even lesser than the entitlement under the Minimum Wages Act. They said the government can “increase our workload but do not let us go in hunger”.
A village guard in Nagaland is currently paid INR 3000 per month and an allowance of INR 25 per day.
The executives of the association led by its president Kurithi Jorror expressed their displeasure over the failure of the state government in fulfilling their demand, at a press conference at Tourist Lodge, Dimapur, on Saturday.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Informing that there are 9,583 village guards in the state, they said the members would hold a meeting in Tuensang on July 14-15 to discuss the matter and would take their next course of action if their demand is not fulfilled.
Jorror said that the village guards had submitted several representations and petitions to the concerned authorities for enhancement of their wages and allowances over the years but no action has been taken to uplift them.
He reminded that they approached the court in 2018 after the concerned authority didn’t consider their grievances for years. The court ruled in their favour but their salary wasn’t enhanced. He said that the court once again passed a judgement in their favour in 2019, following which the state government, on March 13, 2019, raised the honorarium of the sepoy of the VGs from INR 1500 to INR 3000 with effect from April, 1, 2018.
Read: Another rockslide at Chümoukedima in Nagaland
He shared that they once again filed a case in the court in 2020 and received judgement in their favour of them, and in compliance with the court, the chief secretary instituted an Expert Committee the following year but the panel did not recommend enhancement of their wages.
Jorror went on to say that the chief secretary reconstituted the expert committee after they approached the Gauhati High Court Kohima bench in December last year. However, he lamented that there was no positive outcome till date despite the meeting with the committee on May 19, 2023.
While requesting the state government to look into the matter at the earliest, he also reminded the assurance given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Tuensang in 2018, to enhance their wage, followed by similar commitment from Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. However, the promise is yet to be fulfilled till date, he lamented.
Jorror said that the village guards have been performing the role of police since its inception by controlling arms, theft cases, and criminal cases from across the international borders; they also risk their lives by taking on insurgents and while protecting international border.
Till date, there is no pension scheme for village guard personnel who retire on honorarium basis, no medical facilities and no life insurance scheme despite assurances by the authorities, he lamented while requesting the authorities to make these facilities available to them.
Also speaking at the press conference, Executive Secretary of the association, Lenwang Konyak said that they were not against anyone but they want to share their difficulties and problems. He said that everyone understands their grievances yet remained unfulfilled.
He went on to share that the ENPO, ENLU and ENSF had also said they would look into the matter after the association shared its grievances during a meeting in August 2022.