Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
State police have asked all police units to adopt austerity measures owing to financial crunch in the department as the Maharashtra Government has released just 60 per cent amount of total budgetary allocation.
Special Inspector General of Police (IGP) Administration of Maharashtra Police Krishna Prakash issued a circular in this regard and asked the force to cut down on unnecessary expenditure. Giving reason for it, he cited that State Government has released only 60 per cent funds from sanctioned funds for the year 2019-20. The state police, in short, are struggling to manage their day-to-day expenditure.
The circular states that funds were allocated on basis of last year’s expenditure for meeting obligations till December 2019. The police units that have exhausted sanctioned funds are now demanding additional money to fulfill payment obligations. However, as State Government has not fully approved the expenditure, State Police are finding it difficult to allocate the funds to the units as per their demand.
IGP Prakash has issued five-point guidelines to the State Police force in a bid to overcome the situation and asked for detailed report on expenditure. “Reduce power consumption by using energy saving electric appliances including fans, lights and air-conditioner. Do not use vehicles for unnecessary works and save on fuel costs. This savings should instead be diverted for other important works,” the circular stated.
IGP Prakash categorically asked for detailed report on the savings and expenditure and warned of strict action for submitting false reports as in some cases units have not accounted for money saved by them in their statements sent to Headquarters. Every unit is asked to provide detailed information as to heads for which extra funds are being demanded. The units head have been warned that in case they failed to utilise extra allocation then action could be initiated against them.
At the same time Prakash also sought information about savings from currently allocated funds. The State Police headquarters have asked for required information by October 10.
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