Shortage a shot in the arm for IPS officers

 
Due to an acute shortage,   IPS officers are moving up the official hierarchy with a speed not known to them in the last one decade. This is a good time for non-IPS officers in the para-military forces too, as the shortage has facilitated their rapid  rise up to the level of  Deputy-Inspector General and Inspector General of Police.

Since state governments are not inclined to send state-cadre IPS officers for Central deputation, direct recruit officers in Central paramilitary forces have been promoted to higher slots which earlier went to IPS officers on deputation. Same is the case with the Central Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

According to the Union Home Ministry, the country has only 3,383 IPS officers as against the required strength of 4013 as on January 01, 2010. This scenario assumes significance in the backdrop of the rising threats to internal security and  the complex law and order situation.

In Karnataka, the sanctioned strength is for 172 IPS officers whereas the state government has only 132 officers. The neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has a shortage of 41 officers, Tamil Nadu 40 and Kerala 27. The Jammu and Kashmir has a shortage of 27, Naxal-affected Chattisgarh requires six, and Jharkhand needs eight more IPS officers. West Bengal has the highest number of  IPS vacancies in the country–71–followed by 58 in Uttar Pradesh.

Consequent to this demand and supply gap,  the Centre has reviewed the strength and composition of state cadres and the total cadre strength was raised to 4,730. The annual batch size of regular recruits has been increased to 150 from 130 to fill the gap.

As of now, the Centre is finding it difficult to have capable IPS officers on deputation from the states to manage key ministries as also Central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation.