No Salary dirt hits 2nd IRB in Manipur

Imphal, Febuary 05: To protest the non-payment of 13 months salaries as well as pay for January this year, jawans of the 2nd IRB today laid down their arms and refused to report for duty from 6 pm today. Officers of the 2nd IRB however said that the Treasury Department has already passed the salary bill and the amount has been transferred to the account of the CO. the pay could not be released today as the bank run out of harsh cash, they said adding that it will be released as soon as the bank receives the money. The agitation will continue until and unless the 13 months pay and January salaries are released, maintained the agitated jawans. Personnel of 2nd IRB who are attached to other posts have also been intimated to lay down their arms and refuse to report for duty, said the jawans. When the Sangai Express went to the IRB complex at Khuman Lampak to gather information of the agitation, the main gates were found locked and officers were not allowed inside the complex. Oil tankers which are usually parked inside the complex were also turned back. The irate jawans said that though salaries for all the other service personnel have been released, jawans of the 2nd IRB have been left high and dry. In such a situation, how can the Government expect to report for duty, they countered. Newly transferred CO of the 2nd IRB N Kipgen promised the jawans this morning during the assembly that he would take up the matter with the CM and DGP. However when the jawans returned after their morning duty they found that their salaries were yet to be released. Without any promptings the jawans as a whole decided to agitate against the non-payment of their salaries, they further said. The jawans added that ever since the 2nd IRB was formed in 1999, they have not received any due benefit form the Government. Though all the IRB men have successfully undergone commando training they are not given commando allowance, they said. Even the uniforms they wear were bought and stitched at their own expense. Advocating the return of former CO of the unit Ashish Dayal Sharma as their CO, the jawans said that during his three months stint with the Bns, the CO did his best for the welfare of the personnel. Ashish Dayal Sharma also took a personal interest in the running and management of the jawans mess, they said and added that the amount sanctioned for the mess was always more than enough during his stint. However after Ashish Dayal left, the other CO have always been maintaining that the amount sanctioned for the mess is too less. How is this possible, they asked. The jawans also wanted to know whether they belong to the State force or are under the Central Government.