New Delhi: The officers of the central armed police forces (CAPFs), who have been campaigning aggressively for parity in promotion and pay benefits with IPS officers, have been advised by the Home Ministry to avoid using social media to publicise their demands, ThePrint has learnt.
According to sources, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla Thursday met with representatives from all CAPFs — including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) — to hear their demands and concerns.
Social media is the last resort
“The home secretary has heard our demands, and assured us that he will look into the matter,” said a senior CRPF official on condition of anonymity.
“But, meanwhile, he has said we should refrain from using social media to voice our concerns since the issue is becoming a ‘public spectacle’,” the officer added.
However, the CAPF officers who have been using social media aggressively say it is their last resort.
“We have been writing letters to the Home Minister, our DGs (director generals), the home secretary, and anyone and everyone who can help us,” said a senior BSF officer. “What do we do if all our demands fall on deaf ears? This is our last resort, and this is the only thing that is making them jittery.”
The meeting of Home Secretary Bhalla with CAPF officers comes just days after he met with the DGs of all these forces, who are all IPS officers.
In that meeting, as reported by ThePrint last week, the home secretary had told the DGs that if they can fight the matter out in court without inviting contempt of court, they can go ahead with the existing recruitment rules (RRs).
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that officers from the CAPFs will be granted non-functional financial upgradation and other pay benefits given to their counterparts in all organised ‘Group A’ services (OGAS). In July, the Union Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal.
The CAPFs believe that the grant of OGAS status has to be followed by an upgradation of RRs, without which the grant of the status would be meaningless. However, if the RRs are amended, it would ensure that the CAPFs become “closed services”, and the deputation of IPS officers in these services would stop.
Resentment among CAPF officers has only grown since that meeting, and Bhalla had called them to address their concerns.
Several retired CRPF officers had also met CRPF DG R.R. Bhatnagar Monday. However, the meeting failed to resolve the differences.
Of late, several CAPF officers have formed Twitter accounts such as “We the OGAS” and “Movement for OGAS to CAPFs” to bring attention to their demands.
“The thinking among the CAPFs is that we shouldn’t leave any stone unturned this time,” said the CRPF official quoted above. “Despite orders from the apex court and the approval of the Cabinet, they are doing everything to thwart the natural course of things, so this is our only tool now.”
https://twitter.com/KaranSh18067954/status/1168733086927994880
https://twitter.com/ArvindS01848117/status/1168083108907737089
https://twitter.com/Wethecapf/status/1167257091020451840
‘Blackmailing and maligning the IPS’
However, IPS officers believe that the CAPF officers are resorting to “blackmail” by “maligning” them on social media.
“The fact of the matter is that a clarificatory plea in the SC is pending… Why can they not wait for the court to clarify whether or not IPS officers can continue their deputation in CAPFs?” said a senior IPS officer. “How can they preempt what the court will say and blackmail the government to toe their line?”
The standoff between CAPF officers and their IPS counterparts has been going on since the Supreme Court’s order this February.
Also read: How one line in a Supreme Court order has led to a clash between IPS & CAPF officers