TIMES OF INDIA
I WONDER : WHY CANT GOVT ALLOW ARMED FORCES OFFICERS TO MAKE A LATERAL SHIFT INTO POLICE.
NEW DELHI: Concerned by the acute shortage of IPS officers at a time of mounting challenges on the internal security front, the home ministry is mulling the option of a holding "limited" competitive examination exclusively to recruit IPS officers -- a route that was taken immediately after Independence to fill huge vacancies that had accumulated through the War years and because of the departure of British cops to UK and Muslim cops to Pakistan.
The examination will be open only for existing government servants -- mainly from armed services, paramilitary and state police forces -- and will be held for the specific purpose of recruiting nearly 650 IPS officers.
Special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry, U K Bansal, confirmed the move. "It is still at a preliminary stage of discussion. Once finalised, the proposal will go to the Cabinet for approval," he told TOI.
There are currently 196 vacancies, while government has estimated that it will need an additional 450 officers to tackle threats from terrorists, Left extremists as well as criminal syndicates that, helped among other things by lack of adequate police personnel of all ranks, have proliferated across the country.
Bansal said Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) would conduct the separate examination. It would, however, not affect recruitment of IPS officers through the annual Civil Services Examination (CSE), he added.
The shortfall of 196 officers was mainly created during 1999-2002 when the induction of IPS per year dropped to 36 against the annual average of 85.
Recently, the government accepted the home ministry's proposal to increase the annual intake of IPS officers through CSE from 130 to 150 and UPSC accordingly increased the number of seats to be filled through this year's CSE.
However, the ministry recogises that at the rate of 20 more recruits per year, it will take several years before the strength of officer corps reaches the required level. It has already held a few rounds of discussions over the recommendation of the one-man committee -- headed by retired IPS officer Kamal Kumar -- on Recruitment Plan (2009-2020). The discussions have, so far, focused on the eligibility criteria -- age and educational/special qualification -- for government servants who would be allowed to take the limited competitive examination.
Besides recommending increase in the annual intake of IPS officers through CSE from 130 to 150, the Kamal Kumar committee in its report submitted on October 15 last year also suggested holding limited competitive examination for at least seven years to recruit an additional 448 IPS officers.
I fail to understand as to how the home ministry could neglect or overlook the fact that the armed forces in itself is short of officers and although this proposal might serve personal and diplomatic interest of individuals but will definitely not benefit either organisation.
ReplyDeleteAs we will all factually agree that there is no defined protocol between armed forces and the police, drawing a concord between the two would eventually invite comparisons and disparities(equivalent rank,promotions,appointments,pay and perks etc).
Else if the ministry decides to subjugate this complex matter by keeping either of the organisation(armed forces or the police) at a higher pedestal thus attempting to eliminate speculations, the ministry will end up creating chaos and will leave itself vulnerable against an open obiter dictum.
it should be open for all those who have taken their main or interview but could clear somehow.
ReplyDeleteit is not for armed forces so enjoy n worry.........:)
ReplyDeleteA short service comissioned officer of Army if given a IPS cadre can do wonders. There is nothing wrong in providing this opportunity to Army officers who have completed a initial contract of Five years and are Leaving the Organisation.
ReplyDeleteA Army officer is the one who leads in all Counter Insurgensy/ Counter Terrorism operations. He has a very good Training and Motivation to do his job without any Nonsense. If we really want to tackle the threat of terrorism, Army officers should be given the IPS cadre and their senoirity to be considered as per their length of Service. If a Short service officer of 5 years service is given a rank of Superintendant of Police, he can Make sure that his District's Area of responsibility is Safe, Secured, and without any threat.
Armed forces offrs will definitely do justice with there job as an IPS offr.They have gone through Regor training and know how to handle difficult situations.so if given chance they can bring wonders for the organization.
ReplyDelete