Srinagar, Dec 12 : The impasse is not new to KPS cadre. In 1984 such arrangement was notified by the government when the then DGP convinced the state government that KPS needed to be organised like KAS to give more career prospects to the state police officers who couldn’t make it to IPS.
These rules were notified vide SRO 549 of 1984 dated 19/10/1984. However, the same invisible hand created the similar misconceptions as a result these rules were kept in abeyance vide SRO 167 of 1985 dated 22/04/1985.
It was in the year 2002 that govt could issue Recruitment Rules for the Police deptt vide SRO 132 of 2002 after the efforts of M A Bukhari who was then working as Dy Secy in Home department.
Notwithstanding the row over KPS cadre and differences between the coalition partners surfaced during the last cabinet meeting, local police officers are suffering from the govt apathy over the finalisation of seniority lists of DySP level.
Since the Home Deptt comes under the control of CM, who gets little time to indulge in the problems of local police cadre. That being so the cadre management is left to bureaucracy which is hardly interested in solving problems of local cadre. On the contrary IPS officers get their service benefits in a hassle free manner from the same table.
Over the years it has been seen that neither the departmental hierarchy nor the political leadership has ever shown any interest in addressing the service issues of KPS officers for obvious reasons.
As per the recruitment rules of 1977/1984/2002, the KPS cadre starts with appointment of DySP level officers, 50 percent through PSC exam and 50 percent through departmental promotion.
The direct recruitment got a big pause between 1984 and 1999 when 78 officers were inducted through PSC and thereafter the exams were conducted almost regularly by the PSC.
In between these 15 years the Police department continued with the induction of DySP level officers through the promotion route. These promotions were governed by Recruitment Rules of 1977 read with SRO 210 of 1994 and Home Department order 349/ 1986, which fix the deputation, leave reserve and training reserve posts in KPS, to be counted towards duty posts for calculating the posts for direct recruitment as well as for promotion to DySP and SP. Since 1986 the promotion and recruitment has been made on.
The latest impasse owes its origin to the implementation of Supreme Court decision in the much publicised case Sheikh Abdul Rashid vs state of J&K in 2008 where under the intense seniority of promotee DySPs was refixed.
After a deliberation of two years during which representations/ objections of all stakeholders were called and examined a final seniority list of superintendents of police was notified by the Home Deptt in 2010.
However, the directly recruited DySPs of 1999 batch felt dissatisfied with their placements and challenged the seniority list in the High court of J&K at Jammu on the plea that 50:50 quota between direct recruits and the promotees has not been maintained while implementing the Supreme Court decision. The writ court in its order dated 22.11.2011 directed the home Deptt to revisit the issue, hear the parties involved and finalize the exercise by 9th Feb 2012. Since then there has been no clue about the finalisation of the seniority list.
Informed sources from PHQ and the Home Deptt, on the condition of anonymity, disclosed to KNS that the then special secretary in the Home Deptt was instrumental in creating the mess in the finalisation of Seniority of DySPs.
“He got committees and committees formulated on the same issue and wasted last five precious years which is the main cause of stagnation in KPS. By his incongruous attitude many DySPs retired having their pension fixed in the rank of Inspector only and scores are working in OPG even in the rank of SP for many years now,” sources added.
About 40 posts of IPS by induction of local officers are lying vacant.
During these years no senior officer could ever spare sometime for this important issue and allowed the drift in the exercise despite lapse of time mandated by the High Court.
If the insiders are to believed the special secretary did not allow anyone to even touch these files which remained in his personal locker.
“His subjectivity can be gauged by the fact that he made PHQ to revisit the seniority of feeding cadre of promotees and even getting a contradictory advice from the law department by misinterpretation of rules which gave rise to fresh litigations presently pending in the High court at Srinagar and Jammu.”
Some in the corridors of power attributed it to his ensuring the stay in Home Dept while others mention that his agenda was to somehow give undue benefit to certain officers.
Whatever may have been the reason the lost time can’t be retrieved but there is urgent need on the part of Minister In charge Home & Law Departments to address the issue on priority basis so that morale of the force is not effected besides those officers who have given their whole life to police Deptt get their retirement dues without further delay. (KNS)