Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Sunday approved an annual fund of Rs 550 crore towards the salary hike of the state police personnel following their protest over the issue.

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In a tweet, Patel said a committee was formed for the purpose after taking into consideration various representations and demands made by the employees of the police department.

The committee met on several occasions under the chairmanship of Patel, who heads the Home Ministry, and Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, he said.

“Accepting the recommendations of these meetings and the committee, an annual fund of Rs 550 crore has been approved keeping in mind the welfare of the policemen and their family members,” he said in the Twitter post.

Addressing a gathering in Surat, Sanghavi said a committee was formed for the purpose on October 28, 2021 that met on several occasions to deliberate on the demands made by the police personnel.

A report was handed over to the state home department on April 20, 2022, and a decision was thereafter taken to allocate Rs 550 crore fund for the purpose, he said. 

With this, the annual salaries of the Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD) personnel, police constables, police head constables and assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) increase to Rs 3.47 lakh, Rs 4.16 lakh, Rs 4.95 lakh and Rs 5.84 lakh, respectively, from the existing Rs 2.51 lakh, Rs 3.63 lakh, Rs 4.36 lakh and Rs 5.19 lakh, he said.

The decision comes a few days after Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal raised the issue during his Gujarat visit.

Claiming that the Rs 20,000 entry-level salary of police personnel in Gujarat was the lowest in the country, Kejriwal had on Wednesday last promised to resolve the grade pay issue and implement the “best pay scale” for them if AAP comes to power after the polls.

Reacting to this, Sanghavi had told reporters that AAP was trying to scuttle the BJP government’s efforts to give a pay hike to state police personnel, which they have been demanding since a long time.

Sanghavi had then given an indication that the state government led by CM Patel would make an announcement about the grade pay or salary hike for police personnel in the next couple of days.

“We do not want to do any politics over this issue. But some people are trying to stop us from making an important decision because of their dirty politics,” he had alleged.

Police personnel and their family members have been protesting with a demand to increase the “grade pay” and form a police union. Family members of police personnel took out rallies in the state capital Gandhinagar seeking an increase in grade pay of LRD, constables, head constables and assistant sub-inspectors.

Among their other demands were formation of a police union, increase in allowance, and allotment of housing to women police personnel, etc.