Odisha is the only State in the country where IPS officers’ vacancies, especially at the cutting edge level of SPs or DIGs, has been the worst as the vacant rate is at a national high of around 42 per cent of the sanctioned cadre strength for the State.
No State, including Maoist or terrorist-affected States, has such a high rate as Odisha with 79 vacancies from the total sanctioned cadre strength of 188 IPS posts. And this time, the State cannot pass the buck to the Centre as the buck stops at State Government only.
Because despite increasing the direct IPS recruit size over the years, the looming IPS vacancies in Odisha is attributed to non-filing of the promotion quota to the IPS cadre from the State police services. Result: Such vacancies have grown from 48 in 2010 to a high of 57 by 2016. And reason behind rising vacancy is non-availability of appropriate officers at the DSP level in Odisha for graduating to the IPS cadre.
What looks scary is the situation going to worsen till 2020 because the present in-position IPS strength would shrink to below 100 by then from a mere 109 now against the sanctioned strength of 188 owing to around nine more retirements from 2016-20, informed highly-placed sources in the State Home Department.
And there is no scope for the State Government during the aforesaid period to fill up the vacant promotion quota also. Reason: Since for long, Odisha didn’t conduct direct recruitment to DSPs though realising the goof-up that State Government a few years back had decided to conduct direct DSP-level recruitment, inspector-level officials when rise to the DSP level via promotion and qualify the minimum eight-year-long stint eligibility norm for IPS were well past the maximum age limit of 54 years.
Though Odisha Govt could tide over the enormity of rising vacancies by transferring its promotion quota to the Centre for making direct recruits, and when the State would become capable to bring in its promotional official quota, it could realign the cadre vacancies then, explained a senior official.
The fallout on law and order machinery: The State Government has brought in ex-cadre or SDR (State Deputation Reserve) postings to such cutting edge-level posts, which play vital role in crime volume control, direction and supervision, on deputation, and an officer on deputation could bend to any extent the wishes of the powers-that-be, he observed. He added that against the authorised strength of SDR of over 21, the in-position men stand at around 30 now. Moreover, when the norm is that SDR men are to be in-post for only two years, some still enjoy such postings beyond the period.
Significantly, the proportion of the total police manpower to the IPS strength is taking a hit in the State as to the total police strength of over 49,990, the IPS strength is a mere 109.