Motihari, June 28: Home guard jawans perform the duty of constables at comparatively less remuneration in government offices and banks. But they are deprived of pure drinking water at their training centre.

The centre has just two rooms with thatched asbestos roofs and low-bore tubewell pumps. Most of the jawans, who are on duty at the training centre, are left with no option but to run for shelter to the nearby buildings or the adjacent collectorate building, said the residents of the area.

The state government had sanctioned Rs 3 crore for the district home guards towards construction of building and other infrastructure, but in absence of public land, the fund is yet to be utilised.

According to reports, any permanent construction is impossible over the land of erstwhile Bettiah Raj, from where the training centre of the home guards is presently running.

In absence of its own building, the office of the district home guards at present functions from the Lumbini Bhavan situated near the collectorate compound. According to the company commander Akhileshwar Singh, unavailability of the land was the biggest hurdle in building permanent infrastructure for the home guards.

Former district magistrate Narmadeshwar Lal made relentless efforts to get the sanction or lease of the land for permanent construction of the training centre and office of the home guards. The administrative order for the sanction of Rs 8.5 lakh was given to construct the fencing of the present training centre before Lal left Motihari for Bhagalpur in February this year.

The construction of the fencing has also come under lens because of the suspicious conduct of the contractor, who was assigned the work. Reports said the contractor had taken Rs 6 lakh and had built half of the wall so far.

The joint secretary of the department, Md Sayeed (vide letter no. 9748, dated May 17, 2011) demanded land for fast initiation of the construction work.

In compliance with the departmental letter, the deputy superintendent of police, home guards, Anil Kumar (vide letter no. 389 dated June 22, 2011) asked the East Champaran district magistrate to make available the land as soon as possible.

Kumar told The Telegraph: “I have requested the district magistrate either to shift the office to any permanent place or provide suitable land so that this district-level office and its training centre could be given a permanent facelift.”