PATHANAMTHITTA: The home department has withdrawn the free mess facility provided to the policemen on Sabarimala duty. The order of the additional chief secretary (home department) asserted that food should be eaten from the daily allowance of them.

Dissatisfaction is brewing in the force against the withdrawal of the facility. The free mess facility for food provided to the policemen working at Sabarimala for years has now been withdrawn. The free food mess was first granted when Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was the home minister. The Oommen Chandy government later made it completely free. The entire amount for the food of the policemen was paid by the government. The home department’s stand is that food cannot be provided free any more.

The government's new directive is that all cops on Sabarimala duty should form a mess committee. The new order said that Rs 100 should be collected from the daily allowance of the policemen. This has led to widespread protests within the force.