Heartburn in IPS as most DG-empanelled officers await posting while some juggle more than 1
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Heartburn in IPS as most DG-empanelled officers await posting while some juggle more than 1

IPS officers say it is ‘disheartening’ that ‘govt keeps granting post-retirement extensions to some, and others get additional charges, even as over a dozen await posting as DGs’.

   
North Block, which houses the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs | Wkipedia

North Block, which houses the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs | Wkipedia

New Delhi: Most IPS officers currently empanelled to serve as director-generals (DGs) of important government agencies are currently awaiting a rank-appropriate posting.

This, while nine officers are either serving post-retirement extensions in these postings, or juggling roles as DGs of more than one organisation, across central and state organisations. 

According to the DG empanelment list — available on the website of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) — there are 28 officers who are currently empanelled for posting to the rank. These include 24 from the 1988 IPS batch (the latest to be empanelled, in February last year). 

In addition, there are three officers on the ‘offer list’ from the states, which means these officers may also be appointed as DGs on central deputation, and such an appointment is approved by their respective state governments.

Most of these officers currently serve as special DGs or special directors — roles seen as lower in hierarchy to that of DG — in central or state organisations.

According to the list of vacancies in the central government, also available on the MHA website, the Centre has three vacancies at the DG level — in the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the National Police Academy (NPA) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).  

However, these positions are currently held as additional roles. 

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) DG holds additional charge as NIA DG, while the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) DG also holds charge as NPA director (a DG-rank post). The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) holds charge of the SSB too.

Both the offer and vacancy lists were last updated on 29 April, while the last DG empanelment happened in February 2021.

Speaking to ThePrint on the condition of anonymity, a senior IPS officer said it was “disheartening” to see that the “government keeps granting post-retirement extensions to some officers, while some officers get to hold additional charges, even as over a dozen officers wait for their posting as DGs”. 

“It takes years to be empanelled,” the officer added. “Last year, for example, around 24 were empanelled as DGs from a batch of 180 officers. Also, there are few such positions across state and central agencies. Many have retired without even getting a DG-rank position.”

ThePrint reached the MHA spokesperson by mail and text message for a comment on the matter, but hadn’t received a response till the time of publishing this report.

A second IPS officer, who is on central deputation, said the MHA, which manages IPS cadres “historically never had an IPS officer to manage cadre, which triggers confusion and chaos in the service”.

“Every cadre managing ministry — including the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which manages IAS cadres, or the Forest and Environment ministry, which manages IFoS (Indian Forest Service) cadres — have officers from the respective service,” the officer said. 


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Extension, additional charges for some

Among the 24 IPS officers empanelled as DG in February 2021, two are from the Gujarat cadre. 

One of them, Praveen Sinha, became the interim CBI director in May 2021, and was later elected as a delegate in the Interpol executive committee, another DG-rank posting

The second, Atul Karwal, serves as NDRF DG with additional charge of the NPA.

Rakesh Asthana of the 1984 batch received an inter-cadre deputation — from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre — days before his superannuation in July 2021. He was then appointed as Delhi Police commissioner, with a year’s extension in service.

He has also served as DG of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Border Security Force (BSF), 

Sanjoy Arora, a 1988-batch IPS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, is currently serving as ITBP DG with additional charge of the SSB. Kuldeep Singh, a 1986-batch officer of the West Bengal cadre, serves as CRPF DG with additional charge of the NIA.

Meanwhile, Samanta Kumar Goel, a 1984-batch officer from the Punjab cadre who serves as the chief of RAW, got a year’s extension last year. His batchmate, Arvinda Kumar, from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is the director of the Intelligence Bureau and received a similar extension then.

There are others who have received extensions or hold more than one charge.

‘Not illegal, but unnatural’

Explaining why they found the situation problematic, the first IPS officer quoted above said it wasn’t “about who gets what, it is about fairness”. 

“This system of overstaying in a position has come into existence under this regime (the Modi government). The government clearly has its chosen ones,” the officer added. “This system surely affects an officer’s neutrality.”

A third IPS officer said there “is nothing illegal” about the situation “as the government has amended rules (the Indian Administrative Service Cadre Rules) to grant such extensions to certain officers”. 

“But it surely hurts the very essence of the All India Service. We have seen rules being tweaked to an extent that a particular cadre officer gets an approval for inter-cadre deputation days before his superannuation and then gets an extension,” the officer added. 

“But, we cannot even move CAT (Central Administrative Tribunal) against these, because they are not illegal. Government can change policies and rules.”

Amitabh Mathur, an IPS officer who retired in 2014 as the head of ARC, the aviation wing of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), said extensions for officers serving in intelligence agencies like the RAW or the Intelligence Bureau (IB) are “acceptable”. 

However, giving an officer additional charges of crucial organisations is the most “unfair” thing a government can do to its cadres, he added.

“Extension in IB or RAW depends on multiple factors and it is not just favouritism. But mending rules to accommodate one particular officer is unfair,” he said. “And the most unfair thing is giving an officer the charge of crucial organisations like CRPF and NIA.”

Mathur said this was “so taxing” for the officer too. 

“NIA is the premier agency that probes into all sensitive cases, while the CRPF is the largest paramilitary force the country has. How can one officer be handling both the organisations for almost a year now, while batchmates or eligible juniors are waiting in queue?” he said.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)


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