KANGPOKPI, April 2: The All Manipur Village Defence Force Welfare Association today urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into their various demands and initiate necessary action at the earliest to relief the more than 10,000 VDF security personnel in the State.
A memorandum drawing the attention of the Prime Minister for constructive action which has been signed jointly by L Deban Singh and Lantingen, president and general secretary respectively of All Manipur VDF Welfare Association has been sent to the Prime Minister today by the association.
The memorandum stated that VDF personnel in the state render their duties assigned which are not lesser than that of the assignment given to normal Manipur Police personnel sincerely day in and day out with a meager monthly honorarium in an insurgency prone Manipur.
It further stated that in spite of their fulltime duties in service like the normal security personnel VDF personnel has been denied all the essential facilities to be enjoyed by a normal security personnel from time to time when the situation demand while having no service security.
It also said that VDF personnel are all suffering due to non entitlement of reasonable, justified updated honorarium in the present age where the price of essential commodities are sky rocketing.
Apprising the Prime Minister the VDF Association tabled that the honorarium of the VDF personnel should be given under the ways of skill labour which is fixed by the Labour Dept., Govt. of India and thirteen month pay be enjoyed by all the VDF personnel with immediate effect.
It also demanded that adequate facilities from time to time be extended to all the VDF personnel and separate battalion for the VDF personnel headed by Superintendent of Police be established as the earliest possibility while making service book for all the VDF personnel so as to ensure service security while framing appropriate laws and rules.
The memorandum also urged the Prime Minister to graciously consider their demands for welfare and upliftment of the VDF personnel to enable them in discharging their duties diligently in upholding the law and order of the land.
Meanwhile, All Senapati VDF Welfare Association warned all the VDF personnel in the district not to leave their respective posting police station while abstaining from their service weapon and uniform from tomorrow and also aloof from their respective duties.
Anyone failing to follow the directive of the association should bear his own responsible responsibility in future warned Mlun Kipgen, general secretary, All Senapati VDF Welfare Association while urging the concern officer not to forcefully order VDF personnel for any kind of duties from tomorrow.
Interestingly, All India Trade Union Congress General Secretary Gurudas Das Gupta, who is also a former Member of Parliament, had earlier on March 31 sent a communique to the state Chief Minsiter O Ibobi Singh for his intervention to consider the VDF personnel issues sympathetically and also to cause appropriate action for release of the arrested VDF personnel.