BENGALURU: The Police Sub Inspector (PSI) recruitment scam has put a spanner in the much-awaited induction of new recruits in the hugely short-staffed police force. There are currently 800 vacancies for the post of PSIs in Karnataka. The government last week annulled the recruitment of 545 PSIs after large-scale irregularities were reported from centres in Kalaburagi and Bengaluru.
“We would have had 545 new PSI recruits by April-end, and there is another round of recruitment for 402 PSI posts underway, for which the physical test is over and the written exams will be held shortly. But in the wake of the examinations (for 545 candidates) being annulled, we will fill the vacancies after promoting assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) as SIs, to ensure that work does not suffer,” DG&IGP Praveen Sood told TNIE. He explained that after selection and recruitment, the PSIs are not immediately available for posting.
“Unlike other government recruitments where successful candidates are posted almost immediately, in the police force, training is mandatory before posting. Fresh PSI recruits have to compulsorily undergo two years of training at the Karnataka Police Academy, which includes 12 months each of institutional and practical training. By the time the recruits are selected and posted, it would be time for the ASIs, who are promoted and posted as PSIs, to retire,” added the police chief.
Meanwhile, sources on condition of anonymity said the CID, which has arrested 37 suspects, including five police constables so far — 25 from Kalaburagi and 12 from Bengaluru — may take some months to finish investigations because all centres in the State are under the scanner of the agency.
“All the 545 OMR sheets are in the process of being sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to verify if they were tampered with. All the successful candidates are being examined by the CID individually,” said sources. While the government has annulled the controversial exams, and not the notification, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said that all 54,289 candidates will be allowed to take the exam again. But, sources pointed out that as the CID investigation in the recruitment scam progresses, even when the written exam for 545 posts is held again and the selection list is out, those candidates found to have indulged in malpractice will be taken off the list, which may further delay the recruitment process.
“With Assembly elections next year, the process of PSI recruitment should not get further delayed because of alleged corruption and a political slugfest. Though the model code of conduct bars any new policy announcement/notification by the incumbent government, and not scheduled government recruitment exams, the government will have to take a call on holding PSI recruitment on time and with utmost care this time. Posting of promotee ASIs as PSIs is not an ideal situation because the former are at the end of their careers, while PSIs need to be young, energetic and uninitiated,” added the sources.
The police-population ratio in Karnataka is way below the sanctioned mark. As of January 1, 2020, it was 125.95 as against the sanctioned strength of 158.23, as per the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D). The overall ratio in India of police personnel per lakh persons stood at 155.78 as against 195.39.
FORMER CM’S SON COLLECTED CASH FROM ASPIRANTS: LAWYER
BENGALURU: Well-known advocate Jagadish raised a number of allegations against a politician’s son, and alleged that he had collected crores of rupees from aspirants in the PSI recruitment scam. He claimed that the scam was worth about `500 crore, and that a former chief minister’s son had collected `200 crore. He has not been interrogated, despite the fact that Chief Minister Bommai and Home Minister Araga Jnanendra are aware of this. He also said that the ADGP in charge of recruitment has only been transferred, and not interrogated. The present DG&IGP is defending the government on this scandal, and claiming that all is fine, he alleged. Jagadish said the total number of sub-inspectors to be recruited was 545, and the scam could well be worth more than Rs 500 crore.