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The home ministry’s new proposal is seen as a panacea to the shortage of officers at the SP and DIG levels at the Centre. The Centre must not implement in a hurry the Union Home Ministry’s new proposal to change the deputation rules of Indian Police Service (IPS) officials. As reported by this newspaper, the ministry has suggested that IPS officers who do not come under central deputation at the Superintendent of Police (SP) or Deputy Inspector General (DIG) level may be barred from a central posting for the rest of their career. The move could stoke the embers of the already-simmering discord between the Centre and state governments on the issue of deputation. In January, several states, including a few where the BJP holds office, had expressed strong disapproval of a plan to change the service rules of IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service officers. The rules that give the Centre unilateral powers to impose its will on deputation-related matters were rightly seen as a violation of the Constitution’s federal principles. Another decision, in February, to scrap the empanelment requirement for DIG-level IPS level officers for central deputation invited similar criticism. The home minister’s new proposal could drive another wedge between the Centre and states.
In recent years, the states have not been on the same page with the Centre on issues as diverse as allocation of GST revenues, Covid-vaccine supply, jurisdiction over the BSF and the role of enforcement agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and Narcotics Bureau. The Centre’s use of the enforcement agencies has often evoked memories of the Indira Gandhi era when the Union government would frequently resort to high-handedness in its dealings with the states. The fact that at least nine states have withdrawn consent to the CBI from conducting investigations speaks of their mistrust of this agency. The Centre would do well to not complicate matters by embroiling administrative and law enforcement agencies in this tension. Now that the home ministry’s new proposal is before the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for approval, there is a chance to course-correct and take the states into confidence — especially because Prime Minister Narendra Modi often cites cooperative federalism as the credo of his government.
The home ministry’s new proposal is seen as a panacea to the shortage of officers at the SP and DIG levels at the Centre. The shortage can be traced to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government’s decision, in 1999-2002, to reduce the size of new IPS batches. During the UPA government, steps were taken to correct this anomaly. This endeavour must continue. In any case, the issue must not become the cause of another rift between the Centre and states.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on April 18, 2022 under the title ‘Consult the states’.
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