Home Guards asked to continue

CHANDIGARH, Sept 6: Over a hundred home guard volunteers today demonstrated outside Chandigarh Police Headquarters against the quot;terminationquot; of their services.

Though they had been enrolled for a short duration only, they are demanding that their services be retained for a longer period. Some of them said they had given up other jobs and volunteered for home guard duty in the hope that they would be absorbed in the regular police force later.

Police sources say the home guards had been enrolled for a period of seven days only for duty during elections, but since there are still about 200 vacancies, they have been asked to continue. Home guards are not permanent employees and are enrolled on daily wages to supplement the local police in maintenance of law and order.