Central panel, railways at odds on IPS deputation
At a meeting chaired by the cabinet secretary, the committee recommended that the cadre structure with IPS deputation on seven or eight posts should be taken up
The Centre’s cadre restructuring committee has recommended the creation of more posts for Indian Police Service (IPS) deputation in the Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS), highlighting the need for better coordination with state police forces even as the railway ministry stressed the need for promoting cadre officers for career progression, according to officials aware of the development and documents reviewed by HT.
At a meeting chaired by the cabinet secretary, the committee recommended that the cadre structure with IPS deputation on seven or eight posts should be taken up, ranging from director general, higher administrative grade-plus (HAG+), HAG, and senior administrative grade.
To be sure, in December 2019, the railways renamed its security force RPF (Railway Protection Force) as the Indian Railway Protection Force Service and granted organised group A status to the RPF in the light of a Union cabinet decision taken for cadre restructuring. A senior official aware of the development said on condition of anonymity after the meeting that no decision had been finalised on IPS deputation yet.
“As the senior-most member of the service, the ADG RPF briefed the steps taken by the IRPFS officers in improving efficiency. He was of the view that IPS deputation may not be required except for the DG’s post, and the cadre officers can effectively tackle issues in the area of the work of the IRPFS. He further emphasised that keeping in view the workload, functional requirement and parity with other railway services, 8 posts at ADG and 32 posts at SAG may be allowed. He requested that all these posts may be allotted exclusively for cadre officers for career progression,” the minutes of the meeting reviewed by HT said.
“Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, supported the view of the ADG RPF and informed that various technological advancements have taken place and IRPFS officers have been up to the tasks before them. However, due to increasing challenges to the service, especially in the North East and Jammu & Kashmir, and sensitive networks like Mumbai, the officers at zonal level have higher responsibilities and therefore need to be of an appropriate level. He supported the cadre structure with IPS deputation only for DG post,” the minutes added.
However, the home ministry noted that any decision on IPS deputation may have implications for other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and therefore cannot be considered in isolation.
In the meeting, the finance secretary noted that decisions taken in one cadre had wide impact on similar cadres, and hence these may be taken in harmony as a matter of policy. “He opined that being an armed force of the Union, the RPF may not be completely different from other forces, and hence the provision of IPS deputation is needed in IRPFS, in line with the other forces for the sake of uniformity,” the minutes said.
The DoPT secretary noted that the deputation of IPS officers not only enhances the effectiveness of the forces, but also provides experience to the deputed officers.
In December 2019, the Union cabinet in a major move to reform the 150-year-old railway board approved the restructuring of the apex body of the Indian Railways by trimming its strength to half, and unifying its eight railways services into a central service called the Indian Railway Management Service. The eight services that are being merged are traffic, accounts, personnel, engineering, stores, electrical engineering, signal engineering and mechanical engineering.
