Hit by penalties and a near possibility of eviction of their families, hundreds of CAPF personnel — deployed in hard duty areas hit by Naxalism, terrorism and insurgency — have decided to petition the Supreme Court and the Union home ministry for succour, officials said on Friday.
The jawans and officers are worried for their families and finances with regard to an “adverse order” issued against them regarding the general pool residential accommodation (GPRA) houses provided by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in metro cities of Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh to paramilitary forces personnel for keeping their families.
“Till 2017, the personnel were allowed to keep their families and children in these cities under the GPRA scheme for as long as they were deployed in hard areas.
“That year, a new rule was brought by the housing ministry restricting allotment of these houses to these jawans and officers for only 3 years, jeopardising the education of their children and medical issues of their family members,” a senior CAPF officer told PTI.
Ninety-five per cent of these personnel stayed in Delhi, where the MoHUA has said there was “an acute shortage of residential quarters and a long waiting list of eligible officers seeking accommodation.”
A second officer said a number of the affected jawans and officers petitioned the Delhi High Court in 2020, and the court initially stayed the MoHUA order.
In July this year, the HC issued its final order and refused the personnel any relief, and they are now being served monetary penalty notices by the ministry for “overstaying” and for “eviction”.
“Where do we go? How do we pay such high penalty amounts that are running into lakhs of rupees, and in one case, a jawan has been penalised for over Rs 1 crore in the name of damage charges?” a jawan said on the condition of anonymity.
All this is happening when we are still deployed in hard areas, tackling major internal security challenges that the country is facing. However, the MoHUA, in May this year, strangely granted a one-time exemption from this clause (Rule 43) to CPWD employees serving in border areas, a senior officer said.
The CAPF jawans and officers said this was a “step-motherly” treatment to them as they serve the country in high-risk and hard internal security duty areas.
A senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officer said the MHA was “in cognisance of the issue and has held meetings with the MoHUA.”
“A full solution regarding waiver of the penalty and extension of the GPRA scheme, like what was till the year 2017, is in works,” he told PTI. The officer said the MHA had written a communication on December 2 to all CAPFs asking them to inform them about all such cases so that a “corrective” action can be taken.
