There seems much movement in the administration of the State in various departments. Only a day back, we got the news that a large number of lecturers in education department were promoted as Principals. Quick on the heels of that good news, we have something more to cheer us. This time a large number of promotions at higher ranks in the police department have been announced. The Departmental Promotion Committee comprising Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, Home Secretary B R Sharma and Director General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda met after two adjournments during past one and a half month and approved the proposal of Police Headquarters for promotion of entire batch of 1994 IPS officers from DIGs to IGPs and 1998 batch IPS officers from SSPs to DIGs. It approved 11 Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs) and seven Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) for promotion and granted Selection Grade (SG) to 11 SSPs making them entitled for promotion as DIGs in future. The reports are that the Director General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda had been keen to see that no time was wasted in granting promotion to deserving officers in the police department, and had worked hard to draft the promotion scheme for the upper cadres. Those who have been selected for promotion had been waiting for quite some time and expected that their rights would be given due recognition.
Promotion of the cadres will automatically open space for junior ranking officers for promotion when their turn comes. The precedent is a healthy one and hopefully it will continue to be institutionalized in due course of time. It has to be remembered that the State Police have been in the forefront of countering two-decade old armed militancy in the State. All credit goes to the police for their dedicated services and sacrifices they had to make in meeting the challenge of the enemy. The police have borne itself with dignity and honour at crucial periods and under the able guidance of the Director General, it has earned the appreciation of the higher authorities as well as the masses of people. The type of restraint police cadres have maintained in face of grave situations has earned the forces appreciation from one and all. The State Police officers and other ranks have won certificates of honour from the President and the Prime Minister and other authorities, and thus have proved that it has the capability and the will of meeting direst of challenges to peace and tranquility. If the Chief Minister is inclined to withdraw AFSPA from five districts and remove the Disturbed Areas Act from them, the essential component of his thinking is that he reposes full trust in the State Police cadres. It is the police that will inherit the burden of ensuring law and order in the State once the armed forces are withdrawn. Promotion of a government employee, especially at the higher rungs, is to be considered government’s appreciation of their services. In other words, it means that the promoted officers will serve the State with better dedication and deeper consideration. That is precisely what the people want and will feel happy about.
It has to be made clear, and the police authorities know that militancy is on its last legs in the State. It will not be long that militancy will be uprooted lock, stock and barrel and normalcy as of yore will prevail in the State. Thus police will have to return to their normal duty of rendering service to civil society in maintaining the rule of law in the State. The Police authorities and particularly the Director General of Police are seized of post-militancy scenario of the civil society meaning what the civil society will be looking for once militancy is swept away. The Police have the vigilance and traffic wings under it and both of these plus the mainstream cadres all have to combine to give shape to what is called good governance. Police have the vital role in delivery of good governance. As ill luck would have it, our society and polity have slipped into defame owing to large scale scams, bribery and crime. This is no small a challenge to the police. We think that this is much bigger and more disastrous a challenge than armed insurgency, militancy or proxy war. Bribery and scams have gone deep into the veins of polity and surprisingly even the top services have seen the most horrendous type of scams. Thus this challenge is looking straight into the eyeballs of the police authorities. Will they be able to face it and overcome it is a much debated question. The civil society will have to provide the police with adequate powers, equipment and wherewithal if it expects them to deliver the goods. Promotions announced by the DG for higher cadres are part of the requisite paraphernalia to motivate the police to prove its efficiency and rare dedication. We should be proud of them and the State is safe in their hands.
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