CM Mohan Charan Majhi announces the lifting of the ban on home guard recruitment in Odisha.
Over 4,000 positions in Odisha police and related services will be filled soon, according to Majhi.
Arpit Pattnaik
In a series of announcements for the police department, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi lifted the ban on recruiting home guards, which had been in place since February 2020. During the debate on the demand for grants of the Home department in the Assembly, the chief minister stated that 2,298 vacant home guard posts would be filled. He also announced the extension of compassionate appointments to home guards killed in the line of duty, ensuring that a member of the family of a home guard killed in Naxal violence or similar incidents will be provided a government job.
Furthermore, Majhi announced the creation of 1,000 posts for traffic police, 4,000 posts for the Odisha Industrial Security Force (OISF), and the sanction of 10 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams. Additionally, there will be a police outpost established at each of the 10 government medical colleges and at the Baramunda inter-state bus terminal. Moreover, 9,000 motorcycles will be provided for inspectors, sub-inspectors, and assistant sub-inspectors.
The chief minister also granted permission to fill 2,922 vacancies in different ranks of the Odisha Police and 1,083 posts in the newly-created Special Security Battalion at Puri. An allocation of Rs 117 crore was announced for the emergency response system (112). Furthermore, the central government has approved the Odisha government’s action plan of Rs 200 crore for the capacity upgradation of the Fire Services department. The state government has also allocated Rs 540 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund for the capacity upgradation of 346 fire stations, and an additional Rs 200 crore to further strengthen the fire and emergency services in the state.
To improve disaster response systems, five regional hubs will be established in Cuttack, Balasore, Sambalpur, Berhampur, and Rayagada. The process of identifying land and procuring equipment for the regional hubs has already begun. Additionally, the Fire Services department has initiated the training of 10 search and rescue dogs to deal with disasters such as landslides and building collapses. These dogs will be deployed in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Angul, Berhampur, Koraput, Sambalpur, Rourkela, and Balasore in the next six months. The training is being conducted by the Odisha Fire and Emergency Services in collaboration with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
