Union Home Secretary Asks States To Send More Senior Police Officers On Central Deputation

The Home Secretary has informed the states that there is a shortage of police officers to fill the middle to senior positions in the CAPFs and Central Police Organisations (CPOs), which include the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

The letter was sent in the first week of January. It is to be noted that the Supreme Court had, on October 28, 2025, dismissed a review petition filed by the government against an earlier ruling by the court (which was to "progressively reduce” the deputation of IPS officers in the senior administrative grade (SAG) or up to the rank of Inspector-General in the CAPFs).

The court order was intended to gradually reduce "IPS dominance" in the CAPFs. About 13,000 CAPF officers are likely to benefit from the judgment. The Ministry of Home Affairs is the cadre-controlling authority of both the CAPFs and the IPS.

As of December 23, 36 of the 188 posts at the DIG/IG level, which are reserved for IPS officers in the CAPFs such as BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and the SSB, are vacant.

Central Deputation Reserve

In the letter, the Home Secretary noted that 40% of senior duty posts in each cadre are set aside as Central Deputation Reserve (CDR). “However, it has been noted that some of the states/cadres do not send a sufficient number of nominations 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 Superintendent of Police to Inspector-General, he added.

“It would, therefore, be appropriate if a conscious attempt is made by the State governments to forward the nominations of officers for deputation in such a manner that officers of different levels/ranks are adequately and proportionately represented, as well as every eligible officer gets an opportunity to serve at the Centre,” the letter read.

In the letter, Mohan also said that the CDR of each IPS cadre determines the extent to which the number of officers can be sent on Central deputation. “States need to sponsor an adequate number of officers so that the posts reserved for IPS officers in the CAPFs/CPOs are manned by them... sometimes, State governments withdraw the names of the officers from offer, subsequent to their selection to a post, or do not relieve them for taking up the assignment at the Centre, consequent upon their selection. This results in considerable delay in placement of officers at the Centre, and adversely impacts the entire process of selection, deputation, and cadre management,” he said in the letter.