Keeping this in mind the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written a letter (second in recent time) to all the states reminding them to allocate an adequate number of IPS officers for central deputation to fill the vacant sanctioned posts. 

According to officials, as against 683 sanctioned posts at different levels in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and National Security Guard (NSG), 239 were vacant till June 2024.

This situation has forced the Centre to write a letter, a copy of which is with The Secretariat, to the states to send names of IPS officers for central deputation to fill up the vacancies in the ranks of Superintendent of Police to Inspector Generals of Police. 

Few Takers For Top Jobs At The Centre

According to officials in the Ministry, this large number of vacancies at the top has been a bane for the system for quite some time, especially since 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country.

“Several of the IPS officers, particularly in the ranks of Superintendent of Police (SP), Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), and Deputy Inspector General (DIG), who are currently posted in their respective cadre states are unwilling to opt for central deputation for one reason or the other,” said a senior official on the condition of anonymity. 

The Home Ministry's data shows that against sanctioned posts, the number of existing vacancies is quite large. More than half (129) of the 228 sanctioned posts in the rank of the SP have been lying vacant. Similarly, 81 out of 256 DIG rank jobs are lying vacant and in the case of IG level positions, 25 of 147 sanctioned posts are still to be filled. 

This is the second time that the MHA has written to chief secretaries, except those of Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, complaining that states and Union Territories have not sent enough recommendations for central deputation of IPS officers. 

Too Few Top Spooks Too

Officials point out that the country’s two premier probe agencies - CBI and the NIA - have 54 vacancies at the Superintendent of police level out of 73 sanctioned posts and 13 out of 36 sanctioned posts respectively. The Intelligence Bureau, similarly, has 50 vacancies at the level of SPs against a sanctioned strength of 83. 

Only 33 posts of DIG  have been filled up out of 63 sanctioned posts in the IB. The sanctioned strength of two and eight at the Special DG and Additional DG levels are also lying vacant in the internal spy agency. 

Among CAPFs, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has six vacancies at the DIG level out of a sanctioned strength of 11 officers. In the case of the Border Security Force (BSF), 10 vacancies are there at the DIG level against a sanctioned strength of 26 officers and at the IG level, six posts are vacant out of a total of 21 sanctioned posts, while the solitary ADG post is also vacant. 

The Central Reserve Force (CRPF), which is the largest CAPF with a mandate to carry out anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, and anti-naxal operations, besides helping conduct elections, etc., in states, has seven vacancies at the DIG level out of a total approved strength of 38. The force has five vacancies at the IG level out of 23 sanctioned posts.

The problem, officials point out, is that with so many unfilled vacancies the hard-pressed intelligence agencies and central police forces have to work doubly hard to do the job allocated to them, which in time could compromise their efficiency and results.