In a significant move, the Jharkhand government has decided to appoint the state police chief on its own. It was decided in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday. The appointment of the DGP will now be based on the recommendations of a special committee chaired by a retired High Court judge.
As per the new rules, the Member Secretary of the committee will be the Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, or Secretary of the Home Department. The committee will also include the Chief Secretary, a UPSC-nominated member, the Chairman or a nominee from the JPSC, and a retired DGP.
Now, the state government need not send a panel of the three most senior IPS officers with at least 30 years of service to the UPSC to make the final decision. In this way, the role of the UPSC will be limited.
The tenure of the regular DGP will now be of two years and a minimum of six months of service remaining before retirement is a must for the candidates to be considered for the post.
But Jharkhand is not the first state to frame its rules to appoint the DGP. Similar rules have already been implemented in states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
