Raising questions over the efficiency of the police force in a crucial state like Punjab, state Chief Secretary KAP Sinha has put on hold the process of the promotion of eight senior IPS officers in the rank of Additional Director Generals (ADGPs) to the rank of Director Generals of Police (DGPs).
It was confirmed by none other than home secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh himself, who said the file, with objections raised by the Chief Secretary, was received by his office. The file has been forwarded to the personnel department, he said.
The officers, whose promotion has been stalled, include Dr Naresh Kumar, Ram Singh, SS Srivastava, V Neerja, Amardeep Singh Rai, Parveen Kumar Sinha, B Chandra Sekhar and Anita Punj.
As per gradation list of IPS officers, 15 IPS officers have a rank of DGP out of which — Parag Jain and Harpreet Sidhu, are serving on central deputation. If these officers are promoted, the strength will go up to 23.
According to reliable sources, Sinha has asked the state home department to clarify how many posts of DGPs can exist in Punjab and has also raised an issue of two contradictory rules submitted by the home department with regard to the promotion of the officers.
It was the home department which had initiated the process of promoting eight ADGPs of the 1994 batch to the rank of DGP in November last month. IPS officers have a vertical tenure-based promotion system in accordance with the cadre rules.
Cadre management, however, varies from state to state. Anyone who has served 30, 25 and 18 years in service is eligible to become a DGP, ADGP and IG, respectively, in Punjab.
But promoting any IPS officer, who completes 30 years of service, to the DGP rank is almost becoming a trend in all states.
Otherwise, as per the provision and notification of the personnel department of the government of India, Punjab has only two sanctioned posts of DGPs. However, the rules permit the state government to create more posts of DGPs on a temporary basis for a maximum of two years.
