Bokaro Home Guards Face 3-Month Salary Delay Amidst Treasury Scam Verification

Bokaro: More than 1,800 home guards deployed in Bokaro district have not received their salaries for the past three months, with officials claiming a technical issue has resulted in disbursement delay.Many home guards said that the prolonged delay in payments have made it difficult for them to manage household expenses, pay school fees of their children and meet loan obligations. There are 1,870 home guards, including 597 women, deployed in the district.The personnel appealed to the district authorities for immediate release of their pending salaries. District commandant (home guard) Kiran Kumari said that the delay was linked to an ongoing verification process being conducted by the headquarters.“Documents and bank account details of all home guard personnel are being verified. The verification is expected to be completed this week, after which salaries will be transferred directly to their bank accounts,” she said.She added that a request for funds allocation is being sent to the headquarters. “We are hopeful that all pending salaries will be cleared within a week,” she said.Officials said the issue emerged after a multi-crore salary withdrawal scam linked to the Bokaro treasury was unearthed. The headquarters subsequently initiated a statewide verification of home guard personnel and their bank accounts, resulting in delays in salary disbursement.In April, three persons, including accountant Kaushal Kumar Pandey who was posted at the Bokaro SP’s office, were arrested and sent to judicial custody in connection with the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of more than Rs 4.29 crore from the treasury.