Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today announced that police personnel in the state would now be entitled to a weekly off.
Police personnel work round-the-clock on all days, which leads to stress. Keeping this in view, it has been decided to grant them a weekly off, Khattar said here.
The police force will also be strengthened with recruitment of an additional 7,200 personnel this year, he said after inaugurating the office of Gurgaon Police Commissioner and state Cyber Crime Branch in Gurgaon.
About 12,200 posts of sepoys and constables are lying vacant, which also increased the burden on other employees, he said.
To ease the pressure, the government will also appoint ex-servicemen below the age of 50 years as special police officers on ad hoc basis at Rs 14,000 per month, the Chief Minister said.
As many as 22 women police stations have been opened in different districts of the state. This year, 80 more women police stations would be set up at the sub-divisional level, Khattar said.
The Haryana Police Housing Corporation would construct houses for 3,060 personnel in the next three years, he said.
Crediting the police for maintaining "peaceful atmosphere" in Haryana, Union Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh, who was also present on the occasion, said this was the reason why entrepreneurs prefer to invest in Gurgaon instead of Noida.
Haryana Public Works (Buildings and Roads) Minister, Rao Narbir Singh, urged police personnel to work in a fair and just manner without any fear of political pressure.
Haryana DGP K P Singh said that the state police had achieved new milestones while facing all kinds of challenges.
