An Assam rifles constable talking to his senior officer near Sarai Kale Khan in New Delhi on Sunday over delay in his promotion. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Unhappy over stalled promotion, pay discrimination between different
ranks and corruption in his organisation, an Assam Rifles constable
climbed a transmission tower at Sarai Kale Khan in New Delhi on Sunday
amid high drama that lasted for more than seven hours before he was
eventually convinced to climb down.
Carrying a bag containing food items, a pen and a bunch of papers, Vikas
Chandra Borai, 37, climbed atop the tower with high tension power lines
around noon.
“We received a call at the Police Control Room saying that an Army man
had climbed the high tension tower following which the local police
officers reached the spot. The constable scribbled his grievances on
papers and threw them down to communicate with the police. He was
unhappy over delayed promotion and discrimination between the pay scales
of different ranks as recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission. He also
complained of corruption in his organisation,” said a senior police
officer.
When all efforts to persuade him to come down failed, the police called
senior officers of the Assam Rifles to the spot to speak to him. “He
would climb down halfway to the tower to speak to his seniors and again
climb up. It continued for long and the constable was eventually
persuaded to climb down a Delhi Fire Service crane was pressed into
service to facilitate his seniors to reach up to him on a hydraulic lift
and persuade him,” said an eye-witness.
A resident of Uttarakhand, Vikas, is presently posted in Shillong. “He
has not got promotion during the past 17 years. He took a leave and came
to Delhi to highlight his case by climbing up the tower,” said the
officer.