After 18-month wait, 8 Punjab ADGPs promoted to DGP rank

In a significant development, the Punjab government on Monday (July 14, 2025) promoted eight IPS officers of the 1994 batch, serving as Additional Director Generals of Police (ADGPs), to the rank of Director General of Police (DGP).

The officers — Dr Naresh Kumar, Ram Singh, SS Srivastava, V Neerja, Amardeep Singh Rai, Parveen Kumar Sinha, B Chandra Sekhar, and Anita Punj — had been eligible for promotion since January 2024, but the process was delayed by over 18 months.

The Home Department had initiated the promotion process in November 2023, but it was stalled after Chief Secretary KAP Sinha (IAS:1992:PB) objected to the creation of additional DGP posts, citing concerns about top-level saturation in the Punjab Police.

With this round of promotions, Punjab, despite having only 23 districts, now has 20 officers holding the rank of DGP — the highest number for any state in the country. According to the IPS gradation list available on the Punjab Police website, 12 officers were already at the DGP rank before this decision. These officers include Sanjiv Kalra (IPS:1989:PB), Parag Jain (IPS:1989:PB), SS Chauhan (IPS:1992:PB), Harpreet Singh Sidhu (IPS:1992:PB), Gaurav Yadav (IPS:1992:PB), who is currently the officiating DGP of the state, Kuldip Singh (IPS:1992:PB), Gurpreet Kaur Deo (IPS:1993:PB), Varinder Kumar (IPS:1993:PB), Ishwar Singh (IPS:1993:PB), Jitendra Kumar Jain (IPS:1993:PB), Shashi Prabha Dwivedi (IPS:1993:PB), and Arpit Shukla (IPS:1993:PB).

Notably, Parag Jain is on central deputation as the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), while Harpreet Singh Sidhu is serving in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) as Additional Director General.

As per Government of India norms, Punjab officially has two sanctioned DGP posts. However, the IPS Cadre Rules allow state governments to temporarily create additional DGP posts for up to two years. Under current DoPT guidelines, IPS officers become eligible for promotion to IG, ADGP, and DGP ranks after completing 18, 25, and 30 years of service, respectively.