Earlier an SPO used to get Rs 3,000 but in 2016 it was raised to Rs 6,000

Salaries of Special Police Officers or SPOs who are posted across Jammu and Kashmir would now be made through Aadhaar-linked bank accounts through the Public Finance Management System.The new rules which have been set in motion by the Home Ministry say that the state before claiming reimbursements from the ministry would have to furnish all Aadhaar details of SPOs.The move has been initiated as there were concerns raised by various quarters that some fictitious recruitments were done by various district level officers."SPOs are very important element in policing, especially in Jammu and Kashmir where we use them in counter insurgency operations but also in collecting intelligence," a senior officer posted in counter insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir told NDTV.According to estimates available with the Ministry, before 2016, as many as 25,474 posts were sanctioned - out of which as many as 1,089 were lying vacant till August 2017.But to strengthen the counter insurgency grid and to mobilise the youth in the Valley, 10,000 additional posts were created in 2016 by the ministry."In all as on date there are about 35,474 SPO level posts in Jammu and Kashmir and out of which 4,251 are still vacant," revealed a senior official in the ministry.As of now the system, which is going on in the state, is officer oriented. "There is no transparency so with this new move we will ensure that all recruitments are genuine," reveals a senior official from the ministry.The Ministry has asked the state government to put in place a screening process for recruitment and also review the mechanism to review the antecedents and performance of existing SPOs.With salaries of SPOs being linked to Aadhaar, the ministry wants to ensure that the money reaches the right person. Earlier an SPO used to get Rs 3,000 but in 2016 it was raised to Rs 6,000.SPOs in state are used by Special Operation Groups to collect information about an area. They are also used for law and order purpose, and in some cases for auxiliary services and election duties.

"It's just a way to ensure government presence in an area where police men are few in number, that is why earlier we used to do area specific recruitments," explains a former Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir.At times if an SPO used to do an exemplary job, then they were also promoted to a rank of constable.