New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent a reminder to states seeking nominations of IPS officers to fill vacancies in Central Police Organisations (CPOs) and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
In a second letter to chief secretaries, except those of Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, the director of MHA’s Police I division has said that states and UTs have not sent enough recommendations of IPS officers, especially between the rank of superintendents (SPs) and inspector generals of police (IGs).
Police 1 is the competent authority for cadre management of IPS officers.
As of 3 June, there were 129 vacancies at the SP level, 81 for deputy inspector general (DIG) rank, and 25 for IG officers against the sanctioned strength of 129, 256, and 147, respectively.
The country’s top two central investigative agencies, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the National Investigation Agency, have 54 vacancies out of 73 sanctioned posts and 13 out of 36 sanctioned posts at the SP-level, respectively.
At senior levels, however, these investigative agencies were better off with no to very few vacancies at the level of DIG, IG and ADG (additional director general).
The Intelligence Bureau (IB), which has the mandate of managing internal security, has a vacancy of 50 at the level of SPs out of a sanctioned strength of 83.
Only 33 posts of DIG are filled out of 63 sanctioned by the central government. The sanctioned strength of two and eight at the Special DG and Additional DG levels were also lying vacant in the IB.
Among CAPFs, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, which guards the international border with China, has six vacancies at the DIG level out of a sanctioned strength of 11 officers.
Similarly, the Border Security Force (BSF), which guards the international border along Pakistan and Bangladesh, has 10 vacancies at the DIG level out of a strength of 26 officers. At the IG level, six posts are vacant out of a total of 21 posts, while the solitary ADG post is also vacant.
The Central Reserve Force, which has the broadest mandate to carry out anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, anti-naxal operations and conducting elections and maintenance of law and order in states, has seven vacancies at the DIG level out of the total approved strength of 38. The force has five vacancies at the IG level out of 23 sanctioned posts.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)