Deployment of Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) Volunteers

What is the Deployment of Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) Volunteers scheme?

Deployment of Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) Volunteers is a scheme of the Department of Youth Welfare and Prantiya Rakshak Dal, Government of Uttarakhand. Prantiya Rakshak Dal, sometimes transliterated as "Prantiya Rakshak Dal" or referred to simply as PRD, is a state volunteer force that assists the police and staffs government offices, and this scheme is the mechanism through which those volunteers are enrolled, trained, deployed and paid.

According to the scheme description, Deployment of PRD Volunteers aims to provide financial security to PRD volunteers aged 18 to 42 years by paying a daily honorarium for their assistance in police duties and their deployment in various government offices. The volunteer earns for each day of deployment, which gives young people in Uttarakhand a source of income and a route into disciplined public-service work.

Key features of the PRD deployment scheme

• Open to permanent residents of Uttarakhand aged 18 to 42 years, both male and female.
• Volunteers are paid a daily honorarium for days on deployment.
• Payment is made through Direct Benefit Transfer into the volunteer's bank account.
• Selection runs through district recruitment drives with a physical test.
• Selected volunteers undergo paramilitary-style training before deployment.

Who is eligible to become a PRD volunteer?

You can apply if:

• You are a permanent resident of Uttarakhand.
• You are between 18 and 42 years old.
• You are willing to undergo the physical examination and paramilitary training and to be deployed on police-assistance or office duties.

Both men and women are eligible.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a permanent resident of Uttarakhand.
• You are younger than 18 or older than 42 years, since the scheme is explicitly designed for the 18 to 42 age band.

Enrolment as a PRD volunteer does not create a permanent government post. It is a deployment-and-honorarium arrangement, so anyone joining should understand that income depends on the days they are actually deployed.

What documents are required to apply as a PRD volunteer?

How to apply to become a PRD volunteer

1. Watch for the recruitment advertisement. Government departments send their volunteer requirement to the Youth Welfare and PRD Department, which then advertises district-wise drives with an examination schedule. There is no permanent open window, so applications happen when a drive is announced.
2. Submit your application in the prescribed format with your birth certificate, mobile number, bank account details, permanent residence certificate, caste certificate where applicable, and educational qualification certificate.
3. Appear for the physical examination conducted by a committee headed by the District Magistrate of your district.
4. Complete training. Selected volunteers undergo about 22 days of paramilitary-style training followed by a retraining period.
5. Get deployed and paid. Once you are assigned to duty, the daily honorarium is credited to your bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer.

Because the process is district-driven and offline, the district Youth Welfare office is the right place to ask when the next drive is due and what the current qualification and physical standards are.

How much does a PRD volunteer earn?

A PRD volunteer earns a daily honorarium for each day of deployment on police-assistance or government-office duty. Scheme listings report the daily honorarium at around Rs 570 per day, and volunteers deployed on disaster-rescue work are given an additional Rs 50 per day on top of the base rate. Registered volunteers on duty are also reported to receive a uniform washing allowance of about Rs 200 per duty per day. The state government revises these rates from time to time by government order, so treat the figures as reported amounts and confirm the current daily rate with your district Youth Welfare and PRD office before you rely on any number. Payment is always made through Direct Benefit Transfer, so there is no cash-in-hand handling and no middleman.

Because pay follows deployment, monthly earnings depend on how many days a volunteer is actually posted. A volunteer deployed for a full month of duty days earns considerably more than one called up for a handful of days, which is why the number of guaranteed working days has been a long-running demand among PRD volunteers. Volunteers are also entitled to a period of leave with honorarium as notified by the department, which adds a measure of stability to what is otherwise a day-of-deployment income.

What welfare benefits do PRD volunteers get?

Beyond the daily honorarium, the Uttarakhand government has from time to time announced welfare measures for PRD volunteers, reflecting that they perform disciplined, sometimes hazardous, public-service work alongside the police and during disasters. These have included the disaster-duty top-up and the uniform washing allowance noted above, and periodic revisions of the base honorarium rate. Because such welfare measures are announced by government order and revised over time, a volunteer should treat the district Youth Welfare and PRD office as the authoritative source for what is currently payable, rather than relying on an older circular. Keeping the enrolment, Aadhaar-linked bank account and deployment orders in order is what ensures each entitlement actually reaches the volunteer through DBT.

How do I check my PRD application or payment status?

For application status after a recruitment drive, the district Youth Welfare and PRD office that ran the drive is the authority; results of the physical examination and the selection list are published through that office. For honorarium payments, because money is credited by Direct Benefit Transfer, you can check your own bank account or passbook for the credited days, and raise any missing-payment query with the office that manages your deployment.

Common reasons a PRD application fails, and how to fix them

• Age outside 18 to 42 years. The age bar is strict; there is no fix except applying within the eligible band.
• No permanent residence certificate; obtain the Uttarakhand permanent residence certificate before the drive.
• Failing the physical examination — the physical test before the District Magistrate's committee is a genuine screen; prepare for it.
• Bank account not linked for DBT. An inactive or unlinked account delays honorarium; keep an Aadhaar-linked, active account ready.

How do I raise a grievance about the PRD scheme?

Grievances about recruitment, selection or honorarium are handled by the Department of Youth Welfare and Prantiya Rakshak Dal through its district offices. Because selection is overseen by a committee headed by the District Magistrate, serious complaints about a drive can also be escalated to the district administration. Volunteers should keep their acknowledgement, selection letter and deployment orders safe, as these are the documents that establish their claim to honorarium for the days they served.