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Bihar policemen call off stir

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

Eighteen thousand junior police officials in Bihar returned to duty barely 18 hours after launching their week-long stir.

This will apparently be construed as a surrender because the state government has accepted only some of their demands. But in another way the police association has benefited because Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while addressing the rashtra raksha rally on Friday welcomed the move to call off the stir.

More than getting their demands accepted the striking police officials wanted their issue to be highlighted and in this they have succeeded.

The state government was forced to concede some of the demands keeping in mind the two-day visit of the prime minister to Patna.

Though the state government has decided to refer the financial demands of the striking policemen, including salary revision, to the Fitment Committee, it implemented all other demands with immediate affect.

Now, police inspectors will no longer sport ribbons on their shoulders which indicate that they are not gazetted officers.

The government has agreed not to deny or withhold any benefits to the officers in the absence of the annual certificate report. Similarly, the government has issued a notification regarding the constitution of the Bihar Police Association.

It seems that the police association launched their stir on the eve of the prime minister's visit to Patna to put extra pressure on the state government. But for Vajpayee's visit the state government may not have accepted the non-financial demands.

Vajpayee during a brief reference of the police strike cautioned them that they should avoid such agitations at a time when the country was facing a crisis on the border. The prime minister, however, hastened to add that their demands should be sympathetically considered.

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