After scaling down the security cover of former chief minister Mayawati, the UP government has now withdrawn the over 450 homeguards deployed in the security of parks and monuments built during the Mayawati regime in Lucknow.
The homeguards had been deployed in addition to the personnel of the special force that had been set up by Ms Mayawati to protect the monuments.
UP minister for homeguards and vocational education, Brahma Shankar Tripathi told reporters that the homeguards deployed in the security of monuments will now be used for other duties.
“A special force was set up to protect the monuments but the previous government continued to deploy homeguards also. We are simply withdrawing the homeguards while the special force will continue with its deployment,” he said. The total strength of homeguards in the state is around 1.17 lakhs and most of them are deployed for services that include temporary policing, traffic duties and other such activities and are paid a sum of `160 per day.
The minister said that the state government was seriously thinking of improving the service conditions of the homeguards and regularising their services, apart form raising their allowances.
To a question, he said that complaints of anomalies in the recruitment during the previous government have been taken seriously.