Police association asks Fadnavis to turn Diwali advance for state police into a bonus

The Police Boys Association has urged Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to replace the yearly Diwali advance given to Maharashtra Police personnel with an outright festival bonus. The body says the money now handed out has to be paid back through salary cuts, and that this adds a needless burden on the force.

The request was made in a letter written by Amit Shivmani Dubey, who heads the association's Nagpur city and rural district unit. He pointed out that every police employee in the state is given an advance of Rs 12,500 before Diwali. The sum is then recovered in instalments of Rs 1,250 deducted from the salary each month. Dubey wants the amount waived and paid as a bonus, with nothing deducted afterwards.

The association has described the present arrangement as unfair, even plain injustice to the police. Its argument is that people who work under such punishing conditions should receive help at festival time that is of real use to them, and not a loan that must be cleared later.

The letter dwells on the nature of police work. Personnel follow the motto "Sadrakshanaya Khalanigrahanaya", which means protection of the good and restraint of the wicked, and they serve the public round the clock. According to the association, duty hours are often not fixed, and the job brings heavy physical and mental stress. The letter lists piles, high blood pressure and diabetes among the ailments that result. It also voices concern over cases of police personnel ending their own lives under growing pressure.

The association also reminded the government of the sacrifices made by the force. Many personnel have given their lives in the service of the public, it said, including during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the years since.

To strengthen its case, the association pointed to the Union government's decision to give railway employees a Diwali bonus. It wants Maharashtra to follow the same approach for its police. If the advance is waived and paid as a bonus, Dubey said, police personnel and their families could celebrate the festival without worrying about repaying a loan.

A copy of the representation has been sent to the Director General of Police, Maharashtra State. The letter makes a single plea for now: that police personnel get a bonus rather than an advance at Diwali, and that the monthly deduction from their pay be stopped. The state government is now expected to consider whether to change the existing arrangement of festival payments for the state's police.