89. Chief duty of village chaukidar.—

The village chaukidar is a village servant, whose chief duty is the watch and ward of the villages in his charge. He is required to carry reports for the village headman to assist him in tracing offenders, and to make arrests as authorised by law. He is responsible to the District Magistrate for the due performance of his duties. The rules relating to village headman are in the Manual of Government Orders.

90. Freeships to Chaukidar.—

Village Chaukidars are not prohibited from cultivating land; they must reside in one of the villages for which they are responsible. They must be employed on menial duties by members of the constabulary force.

91. Attendance of village Chaukidars.—

Village chaukidars must attend at their police station on fixed dates twice a month {see Chapter XXV) for the purpose of reporting births, and deaths; on one of these dates they must be given their pay.

92. Crime record book of village chaukidars.—

Each village policeman shall be provided with a crime record book, an attendance board (made of wc od), and a printed register of births and deaths; he shall keep all these three in the leather wallet supplied to him which he must carry it whenever he goes to the station.

The record book is for the entry by the station writer of occurrences of crime, or of reports that the chaukidar may have to make at the station, and of his rewards, punishment and good services; all entries regarding rewards, punishments and good or bad services must be signed by the officer-in-charge of the station. A list of all persons in chaukidars beat who are on history sheets will be entered in this record book and all reports made by the chaukidar of their absence from home will be noted therein.

Note.—Only crime of a kind requiring entry in the village crime note-book should be shown in the record book.

The attendance board is for the record of attendance at the station, and shall be written up at the time attendance by the station writer. The board must show every attendance since the last annual inspection of the station by a gazetted police officer. For this purpose each side of the board will be ruled into six columns, one for each month. The rules for the reporting of births, deaths and epidemics by village chaukidars will be found in Chapter XXV.

For the duties of village chaukidars in the matter of inquests held by village panchayats {see Chapter XII). For their duties in regard to surveillance (see Chapter XX).

93. Assistance for escort duty by village police.—

Village police must assist in police escort duty, when required to do so by a member of the constabulary force.

94. Rules for the watch and ward of camps of officers on tour.—

The following rules limit the supply of village policemen for the watch and ward of camps of officers on tour :

I-—The number of chaukidars allowed shall not be less than two; for large camps the number may be increased, but shall not exceed six.

II.—No chaukidar shall serve more than two days in any week, or for more than one night at a time, on this duty.

III-—Chaukidars should be selected from the neighbourhood of the camp in such a way as to leave as few villages as possible without chaukidars.

IV.—The special allowance due to chaukidars who leave their beats to guard escort camps of touring officers must be promptly paid by the touring officers concerned. Station officers must report to the Superintendent any instances of neglect on the part of touring officer in this respect.

When village chaukidars are deputed to guard the Railway line for Presidential special trains and special trains in which the Prime Minister travels or when they are employed on other duties in connection with Presidential visits or the visits of the Prime Minister, they will be paid daily allowance at the rate of six annas a day from the grant for the rewards for village chaukdars in addition to their pay, provided that no substitutes are entertained for them.

The Inspector-General of Police can create temporary posts of chaukidars on daily allowance not exceeding Re. 1 per diem (inclusive of pay) of permanent chaukidars who are deputed for duty in connection with Presidential visits or visits of the Prime Minister when such duty entails their absence from their villages for more than six days. In such cases it will be for the Superintendent of Police to consider whether substitutes should be appointed and if he considers it necessary to employ substitutes he should obtain previous sanction to their appointment from the office of the Inspector General of Police. In that case the ordinary pay of the chaukidars will be paid to the substitutes, while the permanent chaukidars who are on deputation will be paid Re. 1 a day, inclusive of pay and reward, from the head 'Chaukidars' subordinate to 'village Police' in the budget.

95. Supply of printed forms for written reports of cognizable offences to village Chaukidars.—

Village chaukidars should be furnished with a supply of printed Form No. 44 for written reports of cognizable offences and for lists of stolen property, and should be instructed to give a form to every person who requires one for use and to take the form, after it has been filled up and signed by the complainant, to the police station, if requested by the complainant to do so. It should also be explained to village chaukidars that complainants are not competent to make their reports in writing. Whenever a chaukidar brings a written report to the police station, he should take back to the complainant the duplicate copy of the check receipt.

96. Appointment of village Chaukidars.—

(1) Village chaukidars are appointed by the District Magistrate under Sections 3 to 6 of the North-Western Provinces Village and Rbad Police Act, 1873 (Act XVI of 1873), or under Sections 29 to 32 of the Oudh Laws Act, 1876 (Act XVIII of 1876). They may be dismissed by the District Magistrate under Section 10 of Act XVI of 1873 or Section 36 of Act XVIII of 1876. They are also liable to prosecution under Section II of Act XVI of 1873 or Section 37 of Act XVIII of 1876.

(2) Good conduct stripes awarded to and allowances granted to village chaukidars may be withdrawn as a disciplinary measure. [See Paragraph 476 (v)].

96-A. Provisions of Para 50 are applicable to village Chaukidars.—

The provisions contained in Paragraph 501 are applicable to village chaukidars against whom Civil or Criminal proceedings have been instituted otherwise than by Government.