IPS men held back to fight Naxals

Faced with a deteriorating law and order situation in Chhattisgarh, the Raman Singh Government has rejected the application of nine senior IPS officers seeking to be relieved for Central deputation...

Faced with a deteriorating law and order situation in Chhattisgarh, the Raman Singh Government has rejected the application of nine senior IPS officers seeking to be relieved for Central deputation, causing widespread discontent in the force.

According to the Home Department sources, since all these officers were required for the state’s ongoing battle against Naxalites, they sould not be relieved. “As most of these officers are serving or have served in the Naxalite affected areas we want to utilise their experience and services within the state,” a senior official said. Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam said the state does not have an adequate number of IPS officers. “As we are already facing a shortage of officers and our fight against Maoist extremists is in a critical position, we cannot afford to relieve any of these senior officers,” the Home Minister reasoned.

However, the officers whose applications were rejected are alleging that there is no shortage of officers in the state police force.

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Sources said that as per the sanctioned cadre strength, 64 IPS officers are required to be posted in Chhattisgarh. “Currently there are 65 IPS officers posted in the state and the Government contention that there is a shortage of officers is wrong. There is a sanctioned Central deputation strength of 17 officers for Chhattisgarh and only five IPS officers of the state cadre are presently serving on deputation,” said a senior IPS officer. “In fact, the rejection of all applications has created a feeling of discontentment amongst senior officers. It seems that the Government is outrightly rejecting these applications and not deciding each case on its individual merit,” said a senior officer.

Several officers also claimed that they have been sidelined in the police force and political interference in law enforcement is another reason that they want to opt out of the state for a few years. “There is widespread cadre mismanagement in the posting of officers and the transfers are entirely controlled by the Home Minister. Though a transfer board has been created in the state it exists only on paper and it doesn’t have any say in transfer of policemen,” a senior IPS officer said.

“The process of Central deputation helps us in career growth as it provides us with an opportunity to serve in varied organisations like CBI, R&AW, IB and when Central paramilitary forces,” said a senior officer.

The IPS officers who had applied for Central deputation include Director General of Police (Prisons and Home Guard) Rajiv Mathur, Additional Director General (CID) S K Paswan, Additional Director General A M Nawani, Inspector General (Home Guard) Mukesh Gupta, Inspector General posted as Secretary (Home) Sanjay Pillai, Inspector General (Bastar) R K Vij, Inspector General (Director Training) M W Ansari, Deputy Inspector General (Finance, Planning and Provisions) Arun Dev Gautam and Deputy Inspector General (Kanker) Pawan Deo.