Punjab has faced two terror
attacks–Dinanagar, in July last year, and the more recent one on the Air Force
base in Pathankot–in about six months. The two incidents prompted an analysis
of the working of the Punjab Police. The Home Ministry is worried about the way
the Punjab government is handling the state police. It is revealed the Home
Ministry has indicated caution is in order about a tendency to appoint promotee
police officers to head most districts of Punjab on posts earmarked for Indian
Police Service (IPS) personnel. This is allegedly in violation of rules. In all
of Punjab’s eight border districts, including Pathankot and Gurdaspur, no
single direct recruited IPS officer has been posted either as Senior
Superintendent of Police or Commissioner of Police (SSP or CP), according to
sources. Only three directly recruited IPS officers are working in these
positions in Hoshiarpur, Bathinda and Muktasar. The state has 141 IPS officers,
including promotees, working in different posts against the total strength of
172, according to the Home Ministry. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh
Badal’s stand is, Don’t question the appointments, let the DGP decide who is
the best person to post where. But everybody knows how a DGP works in the
state. The rule of the Home Ministry states, “the state government is supposed
to take permission from the Centre for posting of a non-cadre officer in cadre
posts beyond three months.” But Punjab has never sought such permission.
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