Honorarium for SPOs in JK doubled to Rs 6,000

NEW DELHI: The honorarium for Special Police Officers (SPOs) of Jammu and Kashmir, who have been helping security forces to tackle militancy, has been doubled to Rs 6,000 per month.

The Centre cleared the proposal of the State Government which was submitted in early 2012 by the then Omar Abdullah Government.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has enhanced the honorarium of Special Police Officers (SPOs) of Jammu and Kashmir upto Rs 6,000 per month from Rs 3,000 per month. The enhancement of honorarium will come into effect from today,” an official statement said.

The State has 25,827 SPOs against the sanctioned strength of 30,000.

The honorarium is given by the State Government and reimbursed by the Central Government under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme.

The last enhancement was done in 2006. It is expected that this will boost the morale of the SPOs who play a vital role in combating militancy in the State. (AGENCIES)