After weeks of political drama in Maharashtra, the state on Tuesday came under President's Rule as Ram Nath Kovind approved Governor BS Koshyari's report recommending it. The President's Rule was imposed after no party staked claim to form the government even more than a fortnight after the results of the Assembly polls were announced on October 24.
After the imposition of President's Rule in the state, the concerned forces have been ordered to increase security in their respective areas throughout the state. While on one hand, the officials are working towards increasing security, on the other hand, Mumbai Police may be posed with a major setback. The Police Department's CCTV Operators have gone on a strike, which may leave the city unmonitored and vulnerable.
Post the horrific 26/11 terrorist attacks, more than 6,000 CCTV cameras were installed across the city in various phases. The work for installation was handed over to engineering company, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) whereas the maintenance work was allotted to CMS.
The police are able to receive footage through the CCTV cameras across Mumbai while sitting at the Mumbai Police headquarters. Majorly, the employees at the control room are the police officers' children who look after the operations. However, since the last six months, they have been facing various problems.
We haven't received a raise in salary for the last two years. We are supposed to receive our salary every month on 8th, according to our contracts. But every time, we receive our payment on 14th. Since the last 2-3 years, we have not been able to know about our Provident Fund (PF) account", sources told Mumbai Live.
The employees tried contacting CMS via letter but as they failed to communicate, the CCTV operators decided to protest and 43 employees from the Control Room decided to go on a strike and stopped coming to the office.
As a result, what is usually a four-shift job has become a two-shift job amongst the remaining 10 CCTV Operators. However, the Mumbai Police has assured that the strike has no effect whatsoever on public safety.
Update:
The operators are not directly related to Mumbai Police and their absence won't cause any troubles to public safety. We have taken the necessary steps to ensure that the people are safe in Mumbai," Mumbai Police PRO, DCP Pranay Ashok clarified to Mumbai Live.
In the meantime, CMS legal advisor has clarified that they have been working for years with the cooperation of Mumbai Police. He also added that there has been no effect on the functioning of the CCTV operations due to the strike.