Parliamentary panel pulls up CBI for not filling vacancies

NEW DELHI:  Expressing concerns over vacant posts in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a parliamentary standing committee has asked the government to take proactive steps to ensure that it does not remain under-staffed. It also pulled up authorities for the delay in setting up the International Centre of Excellence in Forensic Science-CBI, which is yet to get approval from the Union Ministry of Home affairs.

On shortage of officials, the committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav, said, “Shortage of personnel at various levels in CBI is a perennial problem. The Committee has expressed its concern on this on several occasions. Vacancy in any organisation, to a large extent, can be anticipated well in advance and proactive efforts should be initiated to complete the necessary procedures to fill up the vacancies on time. The CBI seems to have failed in anticipating such a situation.”

The panel also pointed out that the CBI has been consistently lagging in utilising funds for development. “The ongoing schemes/projects of CBI pertain to its modernisation and capacity building and are thus crucial for its performance enhancement and to cater its future needs.

The bottlenecks in the utilisation of funds should be identified, and proactive steps should be taken, so that schemes do not remain pending for long,” it said. It pointed out that the proposal for setting up the International Centre of Excellence in Forensic Science-CBI has also been pending. The committee felt the need for more forensic labs in the country. It observed there was a huge gap between the forensic facilities available and the demand for such services to handle cases promptly.