After JKAS, Govt clears decks for induction of about 28 JKPS officers into IPS

UPSC, MHA, J&K top brass to meet on July 29
Inductions to take place after 10 years

Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, July 13: Days after the Jammu and Kashmir Government initiated the process for induction of 40 Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) officers into IAS, decks have been cleared for induction of about 28 Jammu and Kashmir Police Services (JKPS) officers into IPS with representatives of Centre and Union Territory Government besides the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) scheduled to meet in Srinagar on July 29 to finalize the process.
Official sources told the Excelsior that UPSC Chairperson or a Member nominated by him, Joint Secretary (Police) in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Principal Secretary Home Department Shaleen Kabra and Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh will be part of the high-level Committee which will meet in Srinagar on July 29 to finalize induction of JKPS officers into IPS.
This will be for the first time after 10 years that JKPS officers will be inducted into the IPS. Quite significantly, out of 66 IPS officers in Jammu and Kashmir including those who are on Central deputation presently, all are Direct Recruits of IPS and there is not even a single JKPS officer inducted into the IPS due to delay in inductions because of variety of reasons—the litigations arising out of seniority disputes being one of them.
“It will depend on the high-level Panel as to how many JKPS officers they consider for induction into IPS. Possibility is that 28 in-service JKPS officers might be inducted along with few others who have retired from the services. They could be treated as inducted into the IPS from 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 while the years of allotment could start from 2007 and last till 2010,” sources said but added that the Committee will have the final say.
There are, however, 43 posts of JKPS officers in the IPS but indications were that the Committee might not approve induction of 43 officers in one go. While 28 JKPS officers are likely to be inducted in the first phase, 15 could get IPS afterwards, sources pointed out.
Initially out of a total of 147 IPS posts in Jammu and Kashmir, 80 were reserved for Regular Recruits (direct IPS officers) and 67 for State Police Services (SPS), who are inducted into IPS from JKPS. This was part of UPA Government’s special formula for Jammu and Kashmir under which 50 percent posts each were reserved for Regular Recruits and SPS officers.
However, after Narendra Modi Government came to power in 2014, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Incharge Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) reversed the order of UPA Government and restored previous formula of 67:33 bringing Jammu and Kashmir at par with other States and Union Territories of the country which took number of direct IPS officers to 67 percent of the total strength and reduced quota of inductions of SPS officers into IPS to 33 percent. In present 50:50 quota, 104 posts of IPS have gone to Regular Recruits leaving 43 for promotion quota of JKPS officers into the IPS.
However, sources pointed out, the induction quota of JKPS officers into IPS till 2013 might be treated on the pattern of 50:50 as ratio of 67:33 was restored in 2014 which means 28 posts will be immediately available for induction into IPS.
The 1999 batch of JKPS officers will be the major beneficiaries of inductions, sources pointed out but said they had to wait for at least 14 extra years for the inductions as they had become eligible for it in 2007 i.e. eight years after services on Gazetted posts.
It may be mentioned here that 1999 batch JKPS officers were promoted as Superintendents of Police in the year 2005 by the then Mufti Sayeed Government and since then they continue to work as SPs and SSPs as they couldn’t be promoted to DIGs in the absence of their inductions into IPS.
“However, the JKPS officers who will be inducted into the IPS, will get AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram Union Territories) cadre as the Union Home Ministry had recently merged erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir cadre into AGMUT as J&K was made a Union Territory on August 5, 2019,” sources said.
Once the process of inductions of previous years is completed, the Government proposed to make it a regular feature every year so that the JKPS officers are timely inducted into the IPS like other States and Union Territories and not after 10 years as is the case presently in Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides benefiting the JKPS officers, their induction into IPS will also help the Jammu and Kashmir Government to overcome shortage of IPS officers in the Union Territory especially in the rank of DIGs.
“The shortage will definitely be overcome with the proposed induction of JKPS officers into IPS,” sources said.
Worthwhile to mention here that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had merged Jammu and Kashmir cadre of All India Services into AGMUT on January 8 this year.