In the face of widespread protests over the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in which the prime accused is a civic police volunteer, a government notification on Wednesday called for an increase in the bonus for civic police volunteers.
According to the notification from the Home Department, the ad-hoc bonus for civic volunteers and village police volunteers has been increased from ₹ 5300 to ₹ 6000 for 2023-2024.
The development assumes significance as questions have been raised about the engagement of civic police volunteers who have no accountability. There are over one lakh civic police volunteers and village police volunteers in the State. Kolkata has about 7,200 civic police volunteers.
The prime accused in the rape and murder, Sanjoy Roy, was engaged as a civic police volunteer with Kolkata Police and had unhindered access to the hospital, where the crime occurred.
There have been several instances of civic police volunteers being involved in crime. The Opposition has alleged that since there is no transparent process of recruitment, civic police volunteers are an extension of the ruling establishment. The civic police volunteers are paid ₹9,300 per month.