<p class="title">CRPF personnel are deployed for the toughest internal security assignments among paramilitary forces but they have to work overtime every day without any compensation. And every time, 80% of the personnel are forced to sacrifice their weekly offs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This has prompted the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs to remind the Ministry of Home (MHA) and CRPF bosses to ensure that their boys get the much-needed rest.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"On an average, CRPF personnel have to work for 12-14 hours a day without any compensation for working beyond the standard limit of eight hours. More than 80% of CRPF personnel cannot avail holidays and Sundays," said a note to the MHA by the Standing Committee headed by former home minister P Chidambaram.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The panel was "dismayed" at this workload and reminded the MHA and CRPF that working 12-14 hours with no scope for holidays and Sundays would bring in "psychological and physical" consequences on the personnel and would affect their work.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While acknowledging that the job of an armed force personnel is such that they have to be alert "24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year", the panel cited that the working hours regulation under Indian Labour Law was 48 hours per week.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"While of course, the armed forces are exempted from this directive, it does indicate that their working hours are neither healthy nor sustainable in the long term," it said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The panel recommended that the MHA should work out some mechanism to provide the much-needed rest and optimal duty hours for the personnel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On workload, it said there has been a constant increase in demand for CRPF deployment in states, which are overdependent on it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"No CRPF battalion is presently designated for the purpose of providing rest and recuperation. Moreover, almost 98% of training companies remain deployed on various short-term law and order assignments across the country. This continuous deployment of training companies affects the overall operational efficiency of the force, besides denying troops the much-wanted training and rest and recuperation," it said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It recommended that one-sixth of a battalion should be, at any given time, mandatory training or rest or in peace stations.</p>
<p class="title">CRPF personnel are deployed for the toughest internal security assignments among paramilitary forces but they have to work overtime every day without any compensation. And every time, 80% of the personnel are forced to sacrifice their weekly offs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This has prompted the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs to remind the Ministry of Home (MHA) and CRPF bosses to ensure that their boys get the much-needed rest.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"On an average, CRPF personnel have to work for 12-14 hours a day without any compensation for working beyond the standard limit of eight hours. More than 80% of CRPF personnel cannot avail holidays and Sundays," said a note to the MHA by the Standing Committee headed by former home minister P Chidambaram.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The panel was "dismayed" at this workload and reminded the MHA and CRPF that working 12-14 hours with no scope for holidays and Sundays would bring in "psychological and physical" consequences on the personnel and would affect their work.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While acknowledging that the job of an armed force personnel is such that they have to be alert "24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year", the panel cited that the working hours regulation under Indian Labour Law was 48 hours per week.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"While of course, the armed forces are exempted from this directive, it does indicate that their working hours are neither healthy nor sustainable in the long term," it said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The panel recommended that the MHA should work out some mechanism to provide the much-needed rest and optimal duty hours for the personnel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On workload, it said there has been a constant increase in demand for CRPF deployment in states, which are overdependent on it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"No CRPF battalion is presently designated for the purpose of providing rest and recuperation. Moreover, almost 98% of training companies remain deployed on various short-term law and order assignments across the country. This continuous deployment of training companies affects the overall operational efficiency of the force, besides denying troops the much-wanted training and rest and recuperation," it said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It recommended that one-sixth of a battalion should be, at any given time, mandatory training or rest or in peace stations.</p>
