MHA clears salary hike proposal for 32,000 JK SPOs, Finance Ministry nod awaited

Srinagar: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) India has cleared a proposal for a salary hike for around 32,000 Special Police Officers (SPOs) serving in Jammu and Kashmir, with the file having been sent to the Finance Ministry of India for approval, officials said.

The final approval of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is now awaited. Her approval will be decisive in notifying the revised pay and allowances for the SPOs, the officials said.

The proposal, pursued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration and the Police Department, seeks to enhance the monthly remuneration of SPOs deployed in counter-terrorism operations, security assignments and law-and-order maintenance across the Union Territory. A revision in monthly remuneration, along with possible hardship-related allowances, is under consideration.

At present, SPOs receive monthly remuneration ranging from ₹6,000 to ₹18,000, depending on their length of service. The proposed enhancement is aimed at providing financial relief to personnel posted in remote, mountainous and security-sensitive areas, where difficult working conditions add to the demands of their service.

Officials said the proposal cannot move to the notification stage until the Finance Ministry grants its approval. Until the Finance Ministry clears the financial implications and a formal order is issued, the revised remuneration, new pay slabs and additional allowances will remain unspecified.