Maharashtra Home Guards develops app to ensure transparency in personnel-deployment
The Maharashtra Home Guards has developed a web-based application to ensure transparency in the deployment of its personnel. The app will also help in identifying and weeding out black-sheep in the force, who used to fudge with numbers and identities of jawans. According to an official, the application will ensure that no favoritism takes place in allotment of duty to the Home Guards jawans.
A top official confirms the launch of the app
"The work on developing the in-house application began in February this year and is now almost complete. During its trial, the app was found to be satisfactory. It will be officially commissioned in the coming weeks," a top official said.
App has extremely helpful for deployment process: DG, Home Guards
Director General of Maharashtra Home Guards, Sanjay Pandey said, "Considering some lacunae prevailing in the department, we decided to take help of technology and develop our own software that will not only centralize the task of deployment but also bring transparency in it." "I am happy to note that the app has been extremely helpful in streamlining the deployment of our jawans," he said.
Home Guards have been facing allegations of nepotism
"Now, our senior officers can monitor the movement and deployment of our forces at the local level to ensure that no favoritism takes place in allotment of duties," Pandey added. The Home Guards had been facing allegations of nepotism with some of its jawans accusing their seniors of allotting duty to those only close to them and not on the rotation basis.
District commandment officers to get log-in facilities
"We will be giving log-in facility to the district commandant officers so that deployment and training-related activities can be monitored at the local level," Pandey said. "Since the last three months, the deployment of jawans is being done on a rotation basis," he said. Jawans are informed about the location and duration of their posting through text messages on their mobile phones, he said.
App developed by Home Guard staff member for free
The software of the app has been developed by the Home Guards' staff member, Tushar Varande, without any investment. Varande is currently posted in Satara in the store department.
Pandey has written to govt for increasing jawans' wages
Meanwhile, Pandey, the 1986 batch IPS officer, said he has written to the Maharashtra government to increase the daily wages given to the Home Guards jawans. "Our jawans' wages are very low as compared to those given in Uttar Pradesh and few other neighboring states. Therefore, I have requested the government to consider hiking the wages," he said.
A little about the Maharashtra Home Guards
The Home Guards is a paramilitary police force. It is deployed to work as an auxiliary force to the Indian police voluntarily. In Maharashtra, the sanctioned strength of Home Guards jawans is 54,000, but the current strength is 38,000.
