BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): Officials of State Police Service (SPS) are feeling dejected by the slow pace of their elevation to Indian Police Service (IPS). The SPS officials who are directly recruits to the post of DSP, become eligible to join IPS after eight years of service. However, there are officials in the state who have served for 27 years in SPS but are yet to be promoted to IPS cadre.
Currently, 310 SPS officials are eligible for promotion to IPS cadre in the state. However, barely one per cent of them are getting promoted every year. This year, for instance, just three officials will be promoted to IPS cadre and next year, their number will be four.
The norm is that the posts of promotee IPS officials retiring each year are to be filled through promotion from SPS. In the past, a large number of DSPs were recruited through Madhya Pradesh Service Commission by the state government. For instance, 50 DSPs were recruited in 1996. And it took around five years for all of them to be promoted with the result that some of them have become DIGs while the rest are still SPs.
Those who managed to enter IPS are facing problems too. Dozens of them will retire without attaining the rank of DIG. Normally, regular recruit SPS officials can expect to become IG after elevation to IPS. However, due to discrepancies in allotment of their cadre year, many will have to say goodbye to their service while working as SP, despite serving for 34 years.
For instance, the SPS officials of 1996 batch were recently promoted to IPS. They were elevated to IPS after completing 20 years in SPS. They will now have to hold SP rank for 14 years, that is, till 2029. They will be promoted to DIG rank earliest on January 1, 2030. That means they will become DIG six years after their elevation to IPS. But by that time, most of them will retire or close to retirement.
