About 300 officers of Assam police, who are “habitual drinkers”, will be offered voluntary retirement, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.

The process has already begun and new recruitment will take place to fill the vacancies, he said.

“About 300 officers and jawans are habitual drinkers, and consumption of too much alcohol has damaged their bodies. The government has a provision of voluntary retirementscheme (VRS) for them.

“It is an old rule, but we had not implemented it earlier,” Sarma, who also holds thehome portfolio, told reporters on the sidelines of a programme.

The chief minister said he is also working on decentralisation of governance, and has set in motion the process for opening offices with powers that were previously vested with the deputy commissioners’ office in all 126 legislative Assembly constituency areas.

“We are trying to ensure people don’t have to travel to the district headquarters for work at the DC’s office, and that the DC’s office is available in every LAC area.

“The DCs will look after law and order, and they will be given different responsibilities,” Sarma added.