Police vs prison: Both Haryana depts lock horns over uniform & pay parity

Jail officers argue that uniforms should represent functional rank and responsibility, rather than salary. They argue that Superintendents of Jails are Class-I officers who hold administrative authority equivalent to Superintendents of Police within their respective domains. The prison department officials say the insignia prescribed in the Haryana Prison Rules, 2022, are consistent with the Model Prison Manual, 2016, which recommends parity in uniforms and pay between correctional staff and their police counterparts.

The uniform guidelines were formalised in 2022 after the then Director General of Prisons Mohammad Akil highlighted the high-risk nature of prison duties, involving daily interactions with hardened criminals and gang members. “…prison personnel of all ranks are regularly exposed to threat and danger to life due to the nature of their duties, which require dealing with hardened criminals and gangsters on a daily basis for a long duration… their duties involve even more risk than their counterparts in other Departments,” Akil stated, pointing out: “While most states, including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, among others, prescribed uniforms for all prison ranks, Haryana lacked such provisions for senior officers.”

Following Akil’s transfer in July, his successor Alok Kumar Roy, an IPS officer, received a letter from Assistant Inspector General of Police Himanshu Garg, representing Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur, challenging the appropriateness of the jail officers’ insignia. The letter emphasised that “the current insignia could lead to confusion and undermine the standardised rank structure observed across uniformed services.”

The DGP’s letter highlighted that the use of the “state emblem and one star” insignia is traditionally reserved for officers of significant seniority in the armed forces and the police department. “This rank is worn by officers of the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Indian Army and officers of the rank of Superintendents of Police of the Indian Police Service, who are drawing pay in level 11 or 12 of the pay matrix. In both the armed forces and the police department, badges are directly related to the officer’s pay scale. This rank discipline is followed in all uniformed forces throughout the country, which ensures rank-parity and unity of command whenever various uniformed forces have to coordinate with each other during emergent circumstances,” the letter stated.

Comparing the pay scales of both departments, the DGP noted that the Superintendent of Jail falls below the Deputy Superintendent of Police. “Similarly, Deputy Superintendent Jail is in the pay scale of Sub-Inspector of Police. However, the badges prescribed in the Haryana Prison Rules, 2022 for these ranks are not as per their pay scales vis-a-vis officers of the Police Department,” the letter said, adding: “Currently, Superintendents of Jail are wearing ‘state emblem and one star’ which is worn by Superintendents of Police in the Police department who are two ranks above Deputy Superintendents of Police.”

Thus, the DGP recommended an amendment to the Haryana Prison Rules, 2022. Following the DGP’s recommendation, the Director General of the Prisons Department wrote to the state’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home) on August 28, proposing changes to Chapter 42 of the rules.

In response, jail officers from across Haryana submitted a representation to the Additional Chief Secretary, urging the government “not to proceed with the proposed amendment”, arguing “the uniform is decided by the rank, not by pay scale.”

“The uniform of the prison department is prescribed by the Government accordingly. The Superintendent of Prison is a Class-1 Officer and is Head of Office (who exercises supervisory, administrative, and managerial control over the time), similar to that of Superintendent of Police in the Police Department. He cannot be compared to the Addl SP of Police, who is a Class II officer. Therefore, as per the Model Prison Manual, 2016, the uniform of the Superintendent of Prison should be similar to that of a Superintendent of Police, and accordingly, the uniform of the Superintendent of Prison has been prescribed in Chapter 42 of the Haryana Prison Rules, 2022. Further, if there’s disparity in the pay of the Superintendent of Prison or other officers of the prison with their police counterparts, their pay scales should be upgraded,” the memorandum stated.

In the memorandum, they also cited the Model Prison Manual, which notes: “The correctional (jail) staff should be paid salaries and allowances on par with those of equivalent ranks in the Police Department.”

Emphasising the distinction between the two services, the memorandum stated that prison and police officials wear badges with different letters. “There is no scope of confusion in distinguishing between a police official and a prison official,” it reads, adding: “There is a dire need to revamp the pay scales and career structure of the officers/officials of prisons so as to ensure that prisons can attain and retain the best talent.

The state government has not yet decided on the matter.