The proposed force to protect the memorials and parks in Lucknow and Noida will consist of manpower drawn from the Home Guards,but once selected,they will cease to have any link with their parent organisation. Also,unlike the Home Guards,who are paid a daily stipend,the members of the force will be regular government employees. Director General Police Karamvir Singh said on Tuesday that the structure of the new force will be finalised in the next few days. The battalion is being set up on the pattern of PAC,but the job profile will be different. The process of selection will begin soon after the government takes a decision over the payscale and regulations for the battalion, he added. Last week,the government had withdrawn a bill and an ordinance to constitute a special force,which were awaiting the Governors assent. It had also withdrawn an administrative order to set up a special force consisting of former servicemen. The government said that since there were no women among former servicemen,it had decided to constitute a special force of Home Guards. We will select the manpower from the Home Guards,but those selected would not be sent back to the Home Guards,they will be the part of a regular government force, said the DGP. According to Subhash Chandra,Deputy Commandant General at the Home Guards Headquarters,they are yet to receive any official communication in this regard. He added that they have a strength of 1.17 lakh Home Guards,including 4,400 women. On an average,50,000 of them,including 2,000 women,are deployed in a month on duties which included traffic management and law and order work. Home Guards are deployed by turn. Each Home Guard company has a strength of 100 personnel,including a company commander and three platoon commanders. There is a commandant in every district and a divisional commandant in every range, said Chandra. The Home Guards are enrolled by a committee comprising a commandant,a sub-divisional magistrate and a Deputy SP against the vacancies declared by the government. The candidates,who should have cleared Class X,have to pass a physical test. They get a daily stipend of Rs 140 when they are deployed,he added.
