More than 300 top jobs in the country's premier intelligence agencies have no takers. And these voids, caused by a dearth of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, are likely to remain until 2017, according to Union home minister P. Chidambaram.
"We have troops; we don't have officers to command them. I (have asked) chief ministers ( to release IPS officers from states but) no IPS officer is forthcoming," Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha two days ago.
Records show about 100 posts are vacant in the CBI.
Another 150-odd top posts are vacant in the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing. Then there is the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has three dozen top-level vacancies.
The CRPF admits it is short of four deputy inspector generals (DIGs) in Chhattisgarh where the force lost 75 men in April.
The Border Security Force, the Central Industrial Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, too, are short of 50 top officers.
Trouble started,
Chidambaram said, during the NDA rule from 1999 to 2004 when the IPS intake was drastically reduced.
"In 1994, '95, '96 and '97 when the Congress was in power, the annual intake into IPS was 98, 96, 99 and 84. In 1998, the intake was reduced to 36," Chidambaram said.
"Only 36 IPS officers each were recruited in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, in place of the requisite number of 85. In 2002, the government increased the number to 56.
But it was only in 2003 that the intake was increased to 88," Chidambaram said.
He, however, said the government proposed to increase intake.