New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to preside over a first-of-its-kind conference of officers of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to discuss internal security challenges and enhance coordination with other agencies and state police forces, ThePrint has learnt.
Although the exact schedule of the conference is yet to be finalised, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been tasked with overseeing the preparation of agenda. Sources aware of the planning said all formations of all CAPFs have been asked to submit the agenda for discussion by Monday.
The proposed agendas would first be sent to the respective Director Generals of the forces, who will then submit them to the IB.
Notably, the IB, which has overall responsibility for intelligence gathering across the country, also organises annual conferences for the Director and Inspector General of Police, other forces, and investigative agencies.
“The objective of the conference is to provide a unified platform for the top leadership of various CAPFs to deliberate upon the role of CAPFs in addressing emerging internal security challenges and to enhance coordination with other agencies and state police forces,” a source privy to the internal communication told ThePrint.
The development comes in the backdrop of the Modi government introducing a new law codifying the policy for deputing officers from the Indian Police Service to the senior administrative grade, starting from the rank of Inspector General.
The law, which was passed by Parliament earlier this month and given assent by President Droupadi Murmu, has been met with sharp criticism from cadre officers of the CAPFs such as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and Border Security Force (BSF).
The bill solidifies the position of IPS officers at the top of the CAPF hierarchy, with chiefs of forces, along with special director general and additional director general, to be posted only on deputation. The law also reserves at least 67% of posts at the Additional Director General-level for IPS officers on deputation. For the Inspector General position, the cap is set at 50%.
The law, however, does not reserve any posts for IPS officers on deputation at the level of Deputy Inspector General, a change from the prevalent rules where around 20% of posts at the DIG level are reserved for IPS officers. However, deputation orders of some officers in the BSF in the wake of the new law have drawn sharper criticism from the cadre officers.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Why the CAPF Bill is a victory for internal security