The home ministry has demanded ‘special allowances’ for field-level police force to encourage them further to deal with the risks in maintaining law and order situation, officials said on Saturday.
It has submitted a proposal to the ministry of finance recommending an additional allowance of 50 per cent of basic salaries of eight types of lower ranking field-level police personnel.
The home ministry’s proposal said inspectors, sergeants, sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, head constables (armed branch), head constable (unarmed branch), naiks and constables should be given the additional allowances considering a rise of risk-involved duties. 
Different quarters have long been criticising the successive governments for using police against the opposition political programmes.
According to information posted in the website of Bangladesh Police, the number of the eight lower ranking police personnel ranging from inspectors to constables is 1,22,758, which is 98 per cent of the total workforce of 1,24,366.
Each member of the force now receives Tk 400 monthly as risk allowance which was fixed some five years ago.
Inspector general of police Hassan Mahmood Khandker refused to talk on the home ministry proposal for introducing ‘special allowance’ in addition to existing risk and ration allowances.
He told New Age on Saturday that he was not in a position at the moment to ‘talk on
such administrative move’.
The government is already providing officials dealing with the war crime trial an additional 60 per cent of their monthly pay as risk allowance.
Besides, members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have been enjoying around 70 per cent risk allowance since its inception in 2004.
Officials of the ministry of finance told New Age that they have already examined the proposal.
At least Tk 2 billion would be required annually for entertaining the proposal which is quite impossible for the government in the current fiscal year, they said.
The finance ministry has been struggling to maintain the budgetary discipline in the face of financial constraints. It is heavily relying on borrowings from the banking sources to meet the expenses amid dwindling foreign aid.
 Mirpur Thana officer-in-charge Wazed Ali said they have been demanding for the risk allowance, 100 per cent of their basic, for long.
He said the existing risk allowance of Tk 400, fixed five to six years ago, is not sufficient.
He pointed out that police have to tackle rising number of risky jobs than any other government departments do.
An assurance by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to enhance risk allowance for the police force last December, however, made them upbeat, he added.