Hard-pressed gram police (village cop) members in the district have reiterated their demand for declaration of their job as a fourth class category and provision of government facilities accordingly.

Struggling to maintain the family with a meagre monthly salary of Tk 3,000, many of them work as farm labourers and rickshaw pullers to manage the bare necessities.

“There are 419 village cops working in 45 unions under five upazilas of Lalmonirhat. Four years ago, we got promise that our job would be declared as a fourth class one but it is yet to be implemented,” said Maminul Islam, president of Bangladesh Gram Police Karmochari Union's district unit.

Ansar Ali, 55, a village cop of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila's Rajpur union said, “Earlier our status was upgraded from chowkidar to gram police (village cop) but our living standard has not changed as we are getting very low salary.”

“We work day and night amid risk but we get a meagre Tk 3,000 per month. Our daily earning stands at Tk 100 whereas a farm labourer earns Tk 300 a day,” said village cop Aminul Islam, 45, at the same union.

“We work for protecting peace in village but the low salary is too scanty to provide minimum requirements for the family, I work as a mason during the off time to earn additional money,” said Shahin Islam, 44, a village cop of Kulaghat union in Lalmonirhat Sadar.

Rashedul Islam, 39, a village cop of Mahendranagar union in Lalmonirhat Sadar, said he peddles rickshaw for additional earning to save his family from half starvation.

“We perform duty to prevent social crimes, child marriage, gambling and drug abuse and help police to arrest warranted accused. We also play role to implement orders from the officials and public representatives, thus keeping ourselves busy most of the time. But we have to live an inhuman life,” said Mazibar Rahman, 48, a village cop of Rajpur union in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.

Enamul Haque, secretary of Bangladesh Gram Police Karmochari Union's Lalmonirhat district unit, said, “Of our monthly salary of Tk 3,000, we get Tk 1900 from the government fund and Tk 1100 from the local union parishad. We can hardly meet our family requirements, including children's education. We demand declaration of our job as a fourth class category and providing government facilities accordingly.”