No elections can be held without them. Nor can any counter-insurgency operations be undertaken without their support. Their deployment is required even to conduct the NEET exam. These are the normal functions which the police should have been doing – yet these are performed by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). However, when it comes to the top leadership positions in these organisations, the stranglehold of the IPS is complete. It bears recall that CAPF officers also qualify through a pan-India competitive exam organised by the UPSC and are subject to a tougher training schedule than their IPS counterparts, but when it comes to the pole position, CAPF officers are considered ‘second rung’. In fact, recruitment to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was through the Civil Services Exam till the mid-nineties, and Railway Protection Force (RPF) selections are still through the same exam which selects the IAS and the IPS. As CAPF officers are at least eight to ten years younger than their IPS colleagues (the upper age limit for them is 24), many were becoming IGs and some even rose to become ADGs in their respective forces. Even though promotions were much slower than in the case of the IPS , the apex court asked the Home Ministry to consider their case for being promoted as DGPs. Rather than heed the considered judicial pronouncement, the MHA has bulldozed its way by legislating that CAPF officers (BSF, CRPF, ITBP, SSB and CISF) are permanently debarred from occupying these positions.
Naturally, this has led a wave of resentment. But rather than talk and discuss this with the officers, the government has chosen to suspend and transfer some of the active members leading the CAPF protest. However, these officers have a direct connect with the troops- much like the army, rather than the police – and the resentment can affect the morale and functioning along the sensitive borders and also in tough law and order situations. It is true that as loyal and patriotic Indians, there is no likelihood of defiance of legitimate orders, but the glaring wrong and inequality strikes one in the face. Even retired generals of the Army, who have had the occasion to work with the CAPF troops in the Valley and the North East have expressed their reservation against this arbitrary order of the MHA.
Uttarakhand has a large contingent of jawans and officers in the CAPFs and it is important that their morale is always high. Although the NSA, Ajit Doval, is himself an ex-IPS officer, he should look into the larger strategic implications of this festering resentment which affects nearly one million jawans and officers of the CAPFs.
