The Centre has done away with the need for empanelment of DIG (Deputy Inspector General) from the Indian Police Service (IPS) for Central deputations.
The move is aimed at filling shortage of such officers on Central deputation as also to relieve the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister, for approving such empanelment at the Centre. Technically, senior positions in the Government are from the rank of joint secretary which is Inspector General in the IPS hierarchy. The Inspector General is one rank higher than a DIG, officials said.
“The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved proposal of Ministry of Home Affairs for dispensing with empanelment at level of DIG with immediate effect and carrying out corresponding stipulated amendments, in the existing IPS Tenure Policy,” reads a recent order of Secretariat of ACC under the Personnel Ministry. The Union Home Ministry being cadre-controlling authority for IPS officers mooted the proposal for dispensing with the empanelment of DIGs through office memorandums dated April 16, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
The empanelment process entails selection of officers from the States for deputation with the Centre which is often tedious and time consuming as a batch of IPS officers are first selected for empanelment and then individual officers are shortlisted for Central deputation.
With the change in the tenure policy of IPS officers relating to the DIGs, the Central can now select such officers from a wider pool of officers without having regard to the batch of IPS officers who are in the rank of DIG in different States. Also, the Centre will not need to wait for empanelment of a batch of officers or individual officers before shortlisting them for Central deputation.
This will make deputation of DIGs to the Centre easier and help expedite filling vacancies.