Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 2: Government today said 56 sitting and 77 former legislators of both Houses of State Legislature are availing security cover.
The sitting and former legislators are availing security cover in terms of Personal Security Officers (PSOs) and residential guard beyond their entitlement due to threat perception and vulnerability of locations at which they reside, said Minister incharge Home in Legislative Council here.
The Minister’s response came in reply to a question of Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Dr Shehnaz Ganai. However, the Minister didn’t disclose names of these sitting and former legislators availing security cover, saying it wouldn’t be feasible in view of security considerations.
The Minister said there are various categories of protected persons that include X-2, X, Y, Z and Z-Plus. “No sitting legislator of Upper House or Lower House has been “de-categorized,” said the Minister, adding that on the basis of assessment of threat perception, the former MLAs and MLCs have been provided security cover.
The Minister further said that only MLAs are categorized as Z-Plus (by name). “All other members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council are categorized as ‘Z’ in militancy affected areas and ‘Y’ in rest of the State by status,” the Minister added.
The Minister added that as per records, families of three late legislators and two families of late police officers are availing security cover from the Security Wing.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel