New Delhi: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will take a call on all transfers above the inspector-level only after 1 June, Director General Rajnish Ranjan told ThePrint Thursday.
While the CISF Wednesday cancelled all transfers of positions up to the inspector level till March 2021, Ranjan said transfers for the senior rung of officers will be decided depending on whether they are really needed.
In the order issued Wednesday, the CISF said: “Director General CISF has issued the direction in order to minimise the hardship of personnel and to control the financial commitment on account of transfer allowance.”
The order came hours after ThePrint reported that eight top officers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were transferred with a surprise order issued Monday evening and asked to move out of their posts by the next morning. The move was construed as “unprecedented” and an “affront” to the senior officers by the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers on deputation with the CISF.
Ranjan told ThePrint he was not aware of the transfer orders issued to the eight Inspector General rank officers, and is not in a position to comment on the issue.
“The order we have issued pertains to the officers and constabulary till the level of inspectors since they are the largest segment of our force … We thought it is not sensible to go ahead with routine transfers since there is still no clarity on when full transport services will be resumed,” Ranjan said.
“Due to this decision, our transfer load for this year has come down from 17,000 transfers to just 2,500,” he added. “We are going to make transfers only in rare cases.”
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‘Decision a logical move’
According to an official in the CISF, transfers require a lot of administrative and physical coordination. The decision to hold transfers till March 2021 was taken keeping in mind the safety of all officers and troops in the backdrop of Covid-19.
Since even the government says that all non-essential movement should be avoided, this step was a “logical move”, the official added. Moreover, the move would also save public money at this crucial hour.
Asked if the sudden CRPF transfers led to the decision in the CISF, the official said that the CISF decisions are independent of other forces, but what has happened in the CRPF is “demoralising” for all the Central Armed Police Forces, of which both CISF and CRPF are a part.
The CRPF assists states in police operations to maintain law and order and counter insurgency, while the CISF provides security cover to industrial units, government infrastructure projects and facilities across the country such as metros and airports.
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