IPS Shortage: Centre Nudges States To Fill 233 Vacancies

MHA officials said that in a recent letter, Home Secretary Govind Mohan has asked chief secretaries of the states to send IPS officers on central deputation to fill around 233 posts. 

According to the data prepared by the MHA, the officials said out of the total vacant 233 posts, 114 are the level of Superintendent of Police (SP), 77 at the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), 40 at Inspector General (IG), one each at Additional Director General (ADG) and Special Director General (SDG). 

In the letter, the Home Secretary is learnt to have insisted that all posts lying vacant need to be filled as early as possible for better functioning of central agencies and paramilitary forces, including that of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the National Security Guard (NSG), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and others.

A senior MHA official said that every year, the Ministry routinely invites nominations of IPS officers from states for central deputations, to fill-up vacancies of ranks ranging from SP to the DG level. Under the IPS (cadre) rules, 40 per cent of senior duty posts in each cadre are earmarked as Central Deputation Reserve (CDR), he added.

Quoting the letter to the states, the official said, “It has been the experience that some of the states/cadres do not send sufficient numbers of names for central deputation. Further, the state governments send more names of senior IPS officers, but they do not propose the names for appointment to the posts of SP to IG.”

The MHA, in the letter, has also asked state governments to send names for 2025 “on priority basis”, the official said, adding that a similar request was made by the MHA in June last year, but there was a lukewarm response then. 

Without identifying names and cadre, the official said that in a bid to address the issue of having fewer officers on central deputation, the MHA has tried to take strict action against those who fail to join, even after their names have been put on offer to be sent to the Centre.