Six demoted firemen reinstated

Four firemen,who were demoted by the fire department following 26/11 attacks,were reinstated on Wednesday. Following demands by corporators in the civic standing committee,the acting municipal commissioner R A Rajeev said that the demotion letters of the four firemen stand cancelled.

Divisional fire officers Shashikant Kale,S Nesarikar,P Rahandale and S Rane had said that they had been demoted by the fire department on November 25. However,Chief Fire Officer Uday Tatkare said that the fire officials were not actually ‘demoted’ as they were holding temporary posts. “These posts are a part of the reserve category which means that these are additional responsibilities of the fire officials. It cannot be termed as demotion because these posts are temporary and were to be vacated when the need for them was not felt,” Tatkare said.

Tatkare added that though the commissioner had ordered the reinstatement of the firemen,the procedure is yet to be followed. “The decision is not final because it involves many legal aspects,” he said.