SPOs won’t get paid without Aadhaar link

To streamline the recruitment of Special Police Officers (SPOs), an important aspect of the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre plans to frame guidelines such as linking their bank accounts with Aadhaar for payment of salaries.

The need to fill over 4,000 vacant positions of SPOs has increased in wake of the terror attacks.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, which pays the salaries of these officers to the state government, said the money will not be disbursed through the Public Financial Management System by if their accounts are not linked to Aadhaar.

“It was also recommended that there should be a screening process for recruitment and a review mechanism to assess performance of current SPOs,” government sources said.

SPOs play a critical role in gathering intelligence and sharing inputs with the police regarding law and order and terror.