New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the draft of the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Bill, a legislative move aimed at maintaining provisions that allow Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to be posted on deputation in senior leadership roles within the country’s paramilitary forces.
The proposed legislation, which is expected to be introduced in Parliament in the coming weeks, seeks to formalise arrangements related to the appointment of IPS officers at the levels of Inspector General (IG) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in the Central Armed Police Forces.
The development follows a ruling delivered last year by the Supreme Court of India, which recognised Group A officers of the CAPFs as belonging to an Organised Group A Service (OGAS) for all administrative purposes. The court had also directed the government to gradually scale down deputation positions held by IPS officers in the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) up to the rank of IG within these forces.
Under the existing recruitment framework, a portion of senior posts in CAPFs is reserved for officers from the Indian Police Service serving on deputation. Currently, around 20 per cent of DIG-level positions and nearly half of IG-level posts are filled through such arrangements.
The proposed Bill is seen as an attempt to address administrative requirements within the paramilitary forces while responding to the evolving legal and service-related framework governing senior appointments. Once introduced, the legislation will be examined and debated in Parliament before it can become law.
