NEW DELHI: Media reports that the British Royal Navy has more Admirals than warships may or may not be literally true; but in the case of Indian Police Service (IPS), it is proverbial.
Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, is a case in point. Accounting for the largest IPS cadre, it is bulging at the top, with too few officers in the field to do the actual policing.
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Latest data from the Union Home Ministry shows that, UP has 78 Director-General (DG) and Additional Director Generalrank (ADG) officers, against a combined sanctioned strength of 28.
As of this year, UP had seven sanctioned positions for DGs, but is accommodating 15. Similarly, while the sanctioned strength of ADGs is 21, there is currently three times that number, 63, serving in the state. Many of these top-ranking IPS officers are serving in posts that have only a tenuous link with policing — like DG (special inquiry), DG (power corporation), ADG (technical services) and ADG (telecom).
However, the data shows quite the opposite situation for midlevel officers. In the posts of the IGs, DIGs and SPs, who manage and supervise the agencies and forces, it’s a different story. There is a crunch.
