High-level committee meets next week
*Two posts of IGP-equivalent to be filled later
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 21: In a good news for the Jammu and Kashmir Police Services (JKPS) officers, six of them are all set to get DIG-equivalent posts next week as their names are likely to be cleared under newly released Jammu and Kashmir Police Gazetted Services Rules by a high-level Committee.
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Of six JKPS officers expected to be cleared for the posts of DIG-equivalent, two are presently heading the districts—one each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions.
A high-level committee headed by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Home Secretary Chandraker Bharti, Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat and Law Secretary Achal Sethi is expected to take up the proposal for clearing names of six JKPS officers on the basis of seniority for promotion and posting them at DIG-equivalent posts.
Six such posts have already been identified by the Government after a hectic exercise conducted over the years. Two posts of IGP-equivalent have also been identified which will be subsequently filled from two senior JKPS officers.
Official sources told the Excelsior that six officers of 1999 batch of JKPS have been identified for promotion as DIG-equivalent.
A final decision will, however, be taken by the Committee after examining complete record of the officers.
The Home Department has identified two posts of Commissioners in the rank of IGP and six posts of Directors, Special Directors and Additional Directors equivalent to DIG for the JKPS officers for which they will be eligible now even without their induction into the IPS.
However, the JKPS officers to be promoted by the Committee will not be designated as IGPs and DIGs but Commissioners and Directors, the officials said.
They said following elevation of six JKPS officers working as SSPs in the rank of DIG equivalent, some of the officers are likely to be promoted as SSPs. Few posts of the SSPs are already vacant.
“Initially, the high-level committee may only clear six JKPS officers in the rank of DIG-equivalent posts while two posts in the IGP-rank are likely to be filled up later,’’ they added.
As per the rules, only IPS officers can be posted as DIGs and above. However, as per the rules published sometime back by the Home Department of the J&K Government, six JKPS officers can be posted on DIG-equivalent posts followed by two on IGP equivalent posts.
Two posts identified for JKPS officers in the IGP equivalent rank include Commissioner Civil Military Liaison and Commissioner Investigations Human Rights while six posts in the DIG equivalent include Special Director, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Director Civil Defence and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Kashmir, Director Home Guards Jammu, Director Home Guards Kashmir, Additional Director State Investigation Agency (SIA) and Director Commando Training Centre (CTC) Lethpora.
Eligibility for posting of JKPS officers against the posts of Directors is 18 years while for the posts of Commissioners, the service requirement is 22 years.
Under the existing provisions, only IPS officers can be posted as DIGs and above. A number of JKPS officers in Jammu and Kashmir retired as SSPs as they couldn’t be inducted into IPS due to a variety of reasons.
From 2011 to 2021, no JKPS officer was inducted into IPS due to legal wrangles and other issues. However, during past about three years, nearly 44 JKPS officers have been inducted into the IPS as the UT Government and concerned departments vigorously pursued the issue of inductions with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
But the inductions were not enough and many JKPS officers have been working on the posts of SSPs for a long time and won’t be able to become DIGs unless they are inducted into IPS.