Various important Central forces organisations in India are functioning without a full time head.
What are organisations facing this problem?
The Special Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is given additional charge of heading the organisation.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been functioning without a regular Director.
The Director-General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is given additional charge as the Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF).
The elite National Security Guard (NSG) too is without a regular Director General for nearly six months.
The Director General of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is given in charge of heading the NSG.
The lone research and training organisation for the police forces of the country, the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), too, is functioning without a regular Director General.
What are the outcomes of this?
These central force organisations play a pivotal role in maintaining India’s internal security.
The BSF is the second largest force in the country after the CRPF.
It is unfair to give additional charge of another organisation (CRPF) when BSF is already combating militants in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
NSG comes into action in time of crisis like 2008 Mumbai attacks & it is entrusted with the responsibility of providing security to certain high-risk personalities.
This kind of additional charge has an adverse impact on the efficiency of these forces.
Officers holding provisional charge will seek to avoid taking major policy decisions and prefer to leave such matters to the next person in charge.
Moreover the heads of these organisations are appointed only when they are left with just a few months or a year to retire.
So there is little they can do within their short tenures.
What can be done now?
It is important that right kind of officers with the required skill and experience should be appointed in the right time.
The government could consider announcing the next chief of these organisations at least 3 months in advance with a minimum tenure of 2 years or till superannuation, whichever is later.
Preferably, those considered for these posts should be from among the officers who have served in these organisations earlier.
A panel of officers cleared by the Union Public Service Commission could be always kept ready and the officers for the top posts could be chosen from this panel.
This will go a long way in speeding up decisions and enhancing the efficiency of these forces.
