Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

Punjab Police to hire civilian domain experts to deal with complex probes

The state council of ministers okays direct recruitmen­t of 798 specialist­s as plaincloth­es civilian staff in Bureau of Investigat­ion as part of department­al restructur­ing

- HT Correspond­ent

CHANDIGARH:THE Punjab council of ministers on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the state police department to recruit civilian domain experts in the areas of informatio­n technology (IT), legal forensics and finance to deal with complex investigat­ions.

A government spokespers­on claimed that Punjab will be India’s first state to recruit civilians as domain experts in its police force.

At least 798 specialist­s will be hired directly as plaincloth­es support staff in the department’s Bureau of Investigat­ion (BOI) which will get a qualitativ­e edge with the induction of a total of 4,251 personnel across different ranks as part of a restructur­ing of the police department.

The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh through video-conferenci­ng.

This will bring about a qualitativ­e change in the investigat­ion process, especially in the drug cases, the spokespers­on claimed.

The BOI will mainly deal with five types of criminal cases of serious nature — homicide and forensic, crimes against women and children, narcotic drugs and psychotrop­ic substances, special crimes and economic offences and cyber crimes. These constitute around 14-15% of the total crimes committed in the state.

The restructur­ing will enable the BOI to make direct recruitmen­ts of sub-inspectors (SIS), head constables and constables “in a revenue-neutral manner by abolishing 4,849 existing posts”

so that there is no additional financial burden on the state exchequer, the spokespers­on added.

As per the provisiona­l plan, direct recruitmen­t of 1,481 cops (297 SIS, 811 head constables and 373 constables) will be made.

The recruitmen­t of graduates in law, forensics, commerce and other domains will also give an opportunit­y to the educated youth of the state in getting jobs,

he said.

This will be done after taking out these posts from the purview of the Subordinat­e Service Selection Board (SSSB). With this, the BOI will be able to fill 100% posts (159) of ministeria­l staff as and 798 posts of civilian support staff as per the new proposed service rules.

The remaining 1,947 posts of subordinat­e ranks (inspector to constable) of a total of 4,521 sanctioned for the BOI will initially be filled through the department and thereafter via promotions in the bureau itself.

GOVT TO RECOVER ₹223.75 CR FROM PRIVATE SUGAR MILLS

The cabinet also gave a nod to for recovery of ₹223.75 crore paid to cane growers on behalf of the private sugar mills for the 2015-16 crushing year.

In the 2014-15 year, the sugar mills were facing cash flow problems, delayed start and low sugar rate in the market, leading to delay in payment to cane growers. The state government had to step to make payments to the growers on behalf of the mills. The decision comes in the wake of the recommenda­tions of a high-powered committee constitute­d under the chairmansh­ip of the chief secretary in November 2017, in compliance with the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The committee, after hearing the representa­tives of the private sugar mills, observed that Rs 50 per quintal was given as a temporary support to alleviate the distress of farmers.

 ??  ?? The cabinet meeting was chaired by chief minister Amarinder Singh through video-conferenci­ng.
The cabinet meeting was chaired by chief minister Amarinder Singh through video-conferenci­ng.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India